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SELECTIONS  FROM   THE  BIBLE 

AND    OTHER    LITERATURE 

REGARDING  THE  LIFE 

IMMORTAL 


COMPILED/  BY 

JAMES  H.  DOWNEY 


THE  ABINGDON  PRESS 

NEW    YORK  CINCINNATI 


Copyright,  1915,  by 

JAMES    H.    DOWNEY 

The  Bible  text  used  in  tiiis  volume  is  taken  from  the  American 
Standard  Edition  of  the  Revised  Bible,  copyright,  1901,  by 
Tbomat  Nelson  Sc  Sons,  and  is  used  by  permission. 


E*rlnted  in  the  United  States  of  Amei^ca 


First  Edition  Printed  March,  191 S 

Reprinted  April  and    November,    191S;    May,    1916 

February.  1917;  April.  1918;  May.  1919;  January,  1921 

March,  1923 


DEDICATED 

to 

My   Son 

WILBUR  J.    DOWNEY 

the  only  surviving  member  of  my  familv,  and 
in  memory  of  a  WIFE  and  MOTHER,'  who, 
unselfish,  kind,  and  patient  through  suffering, 
in  her  earthly  life,  is  now  in   full   fruition  of 

THE  LIFE  IMMORTAL 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface 7 

Immortality  in  the  Scriptures 9 

The  Old  Testament 9 

The  Gospels 1 1 

Acts  and  Epistles 14 

Revelation 20 

Immortality  in  the  Ancient  Writings 23 

Immortality  in  Modern  Literature 25 

The  Poets 25 

Religious  Writers 42 

Novelists  and  Essayists 53 

Theologians  and  Preachers 66 

Periodical  Press 83 

Miscellaneous 87 

L'Envoi 91 


PREFACE 

Immortality  has  been  to  me  a  subject 
of  great  and  thoughtful  interest,  as  one 
after  one  my  friends,  and  nearly  all  my 
family — including  my  companion  of  over 
forty  years — have  taken  their  departure  to 
that  "bourne  from  whence  no  traveler  re- 
turns." 

I  have  read  much  on  the  subject,  and 
have  wished  that  some  one  might  have  col- 
lected the  best  of  all  that  has  been  uttered 
thereon  into  book  form  for  the  comfort  and 
encouragement  of  the  many  who  must  be 
interested   in   this   matter. 

Failing  to  find  such  a  volume,  I  have,  in 
my  own  behalf  and  that  of  others  who  may 
be  helped  thereby,  compiled  these  extracts, 
making  my  selections  from  the  authoritative 
statements  of  Scripture,  and  the  utterances 
of  prose  and  poetical  writers  that  appeal 
to  the  soul  and  answer  to  its  divinely  im- 
planted longings  for  immortality. 

I  may  say  that  the  result  of  this  very 
pleasant  labor  on  my  part  is  to  confirm  and 
7 


8  pki-:face 

establish  my  own  hope  and  behef  in  the 
Life  Immortal  and  fill  my  soul  with  joyous 
anticipations  of  reunion  beyond  the  grave. 

If  this  little  book  may  be  the  means  of 
bringing  to  other  souls  light  and  cheer  re- 
garding the  future,  and  if  it  shall  carry 
some  degree  of  comfort  and  consolation  to 
other  bereaved  hearts,  the  purpose  of  the 
compiler  v^^ill  have  been  accomplished,  with 
his  gratitude  to  God  for  the  privilege  thus 
afforded  him. 

James  H.  Downey. 

901  Sterling  Place, 
Brooklyn,  New  York. 


Smmortalttp  in  t()e  i^criptuteflt 

The  Old  Testament 

I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth, 

And  at  last  he  will  stand  up  upon  the  earth : 

And    after    my    skin,    even   this   body,    is 

destroyed. 
Then  without  my  flesh  shall  I  see  God ; 
Whom  I,  even  I,  shall  see,  on  my  side. 
And  mine  eyes  shall  behold,  and  not  as  a 

stranger. 

— Job  ip.  ^3-2/. 

But  now  he  is  dead,  .  .  .  can  I  bring  him 
back  again  ?  I  shall  go  to  him,  but  he  will 
not  return  to  me. — 2  Sam.  12.  2^. 

Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  to  Sheol ; 
Neither  wilt  thou  suffer  thy  holy  one  to  see 

corruption. 
Thou  wilt  show  me  the  path  of  life: 
In  thy  presence  is  fullness  of  joy; 
In  thy  right  hand  there  are  pleasures  for 

evermore. 

— Psa.  16.  10,  II. 

9 


10  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

I  shall  behold  thy  face  in  righteousness ; 
I    shall   be   satisfied   when   I    awake,   with 
beholding  thy  form. 

—Psa.  17.  15. 

God  will  redeem  my  soul  from  the  power 

of  Sheol; 
For  he  will  receive  me. 

—Psa.  49.  15. 

Unto  Jehovah  the  Lord  belongeth  escape 
from  death. 

—Psa.  68.  20. 

Thou  wilt  guide  me  with  thy  counsel, 
And  afterward  receive  me  to  glory. 

—Psa.  ;j.  24. 

The  spirit  returneth  unto  God  who  gave 
it. — Eccles.  12.  7. 

Thine  eyes  shall  see  the  king  in  his 
beauty. — Isa.  33.  i/. 

If  the  wicked  turn  from  all  his  sins  .  .  . 
he  shall  surely  live,  he  shall  not  die. — Ecck. 
18.  21, 

They   that   turn   many   to   righteousness 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  ii 

[shall  shine]  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever. 
— Dan.  12.  J. 

The  Gospels 

For  in  the  resurrection  they  .  .  .  are  as 
angels  in  heaven. — Matt.  22.  jo. 

God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of 
the  living. — Matt.  22.  ^2. 

The  righteous  [shall  go]  into  life  eternal. 
^—Matt.  25.  46. 

Shall  .  .  .  receive  ...  in  the  world  to 
come  eternal  life. — Luke  18.  jo. 

For  neither  can  they  die  any  more:  for 
they  are  equal  unto  the  angels ;  and  are  sons 
of  God,  being  sons  of  the  resurrection. — 
Luke  20.  jd. 

Thus  it  is  written,  that  the  Christ  should 
suffer,  and  rise  again  from  the  dead  the 
third  day. — Luke  24.  46. 

For  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave 
his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  be- 
lieveth  on  him  should  not  perish,  but  have 
eternal  life. — John  j.  16. 


12  THE  COiMFORT  BOOK 

He  that  believcth  on  the  Son  hath  eternal 
hfe. — John  j.  56. 

The  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall 
become  in  him  a  well  of  water  springing 
up  unto  eternal  life. — John  4.  14. 

He  that  heareth  my  word,  and  believeth 
him  that  sent  me,  hath  eternal  life. — John 
5-^4- 

They  that  have  done  good  [shall  come 
forth]  unto  the  resurrection  of  life. — John 

For  this  is  the  will  of  my  Father,  that 
everyone  that  beholdeth  the  Son,  and  be- 
lieveth on  him,  should  have  eternal  life; 
and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last  day. — 
John  6.  40. 

Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  He  that 
believeth  hath  eternal  life. — John  6.  4/. 

I  am  the  living  bread:  ...  if  any  man 
eat  of  this  bread,  he  shall  live  forever. — 
John  6.  51. 

Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you.  If  a  man 
keep  my  word,  he  shall  never  see  death. — 
John  8.  [,L 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  13 

My  sheep  hear  my  voice,  and  I  know 
them,  and  they  follow  me :  and  I  give  unto 
them  eternal  life;  and  they  shall  never 
perish. — John  10.  2y,  28. 

Jesus  said  unto  her,  I  am  the  resurrec- 
tion, and  the  life:  he  that  believeth  on  me, 
though  he  die,  yet  shall  he  live;  and  who- 
soever liveth  and  believeth  on  me  shall 
never  die. — John  11.  ^5,  26. 

What  I  do  thou  knowest  not  now;  but 
thou    shalt    understand    hereafter. — John 

Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled:  believe 
in  God,  believe  also  in  me.  In  my  Father's 
house  are  many  mansions;  if  it  were  not 
so,  I  would  have  told  you ;  for  I  go  to  pre- 
pare a  place  for  you  .  .  .  that  where  I  am, 
there  ye  may  be  also. — John  14.  1-3. 

Father,  I  desire  that  they  also  whom  thou 

hast  given  me  be  with  me  where  I  am,  that 
they  may  behold  my  glory,  which  thou  hast 
given  me. — John  //.  24. 

These  are  written,  that  ye  may  believe 
that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God; 


14  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

and  that  believing  ye  may  have   [eternal] 
life  in  his  name. — John  20.  57. 

Acts  and  Epistles 

And  now  I  commend  you  to  God,  .  .  . 
w^ho  is  able  to  build  you  up,  and  to  give 
you  the  inheritance  among  all  them  who 
are  sanctified. — Acts  20.  ^2. 

Who  will  render  ...  to  them  that  by 
patience  in  well-doing  seek  for  glory  and 
honor  and  incorruption,  eternal  life. — Rom. 
2.  6,  7. 

The  free  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life  in 
Christ  Jesus  our  Lord. — Rom.  6.  2j. 

For  I  reckon  that  the  sufferings  of  this 
present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be  compared 
with  the  glory  which  shall  be  revealed  to 
US-ward. — Rom.  8.  18. 

For  now  we  see  in  a  mirror,  darkly;  but 
then  face  to  face :  now  I  know  in  part ;  but 
then  shall  I  know  fully  even  as  also  I  was 
fully  known. — i  Cor.  /j.  12. 

Now  if  Christ  is  preached  that  he  hath 
been  raised  from  the  dead,  how  say  some 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  15 

among  you  that  there  is  no  resurrection  of 
the  dead?  But  if  there  is  no  resurrection 
of  the  dead,  neither  hath  Christ  been 
raised:  and  if  Christ  hath  not  been  raised, 
then  is  our  preaching  vain,  your  faith  also 
is  vain.  Yea,  and  we  are  found  false  wit- 
nesses of  God;  because  we  witnessed  of 
God  that  he  raised  up  Christ:  whom  he 
raised  not  up,  if  so  be  that  the  dead  are 
not  raised.  For  if  the  dead  are  not  raised, 
neither  hath  Christ  been  raised :  and  if 
Christ  hath  not  been  raised,  your  faith  is 
vain;  ye  are  yet  in  your  sins.  Then  they 
also  that  are  fallen  asleep  in  Christ  have 
perished.  If  we  have  only  hoped  in  Christ 
in  this  life,  we  are  of  all  men  most  pitiable. 

But  now  hath  Christ  been  raised  from 
the  dead,  the  first  fruits  of  them  that  are 
asleep.  For  since  by  man  came  death,  by 
man  came  also  the  resurrection  of  the  dead. 
For  as  in  Adam  all  die,  so  also  in  Christ 
shall  all  be  made  alive. 

So  also  it  is  written,  The  first  man  Adam 
became  a  living  soul.  The  last  Adam  be- 
came a  life-giving  spirit.  Flowbeit  that  is 
not  first  which  is  spiritual,  but  that  which 
is  natural ;  then  that  which  is  spiritual.   The 


i6  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

first  man  is  of  the  earth,  earthy:  the  second 
man  is  of  heaven.  As  is  the  earthy,  such 
are  they  also  that  are  earthy :  and  as  is  the 
heavenly,  such  are  they  also  that  are  heav- 
enly. And  as  wq  have  borne  the  image  of 
the  earthy,  we  shall  also  bear  the  image  of 
the  heavenly. 

For  this  corruptible  must  put  on  incorrup- 
tion,  and  this  mortal  must  put  on  immor- 
tality. But  when  this  corruptible  shall  have 
put  on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal  shall 
have  put  on  immortality,  then  shall  come  to 
pass  the  saying  that  is  written,  Death  is 
swallowed  up  in  victory.  O  death,  where 
is  thy  victory  ?  O  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ? 
The  sting  of  death  is  sin ;  and  the  power 
of  sin  is  the  law:  but  thanks  be  to  God, 
who  giveth  us  the  victory  through  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  Wherefore,  my  beloved 
brethren,  be  ye  steadfast,  unmovable, 
always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord, 
forasmuch  as  ye  know  that  your  labor  is 
not  in  vain  in  the  Lord. — i  Cor.  15. 

Knowing  that  he  that  raised  up  the  Lord 
Jesus  shall  raise  up  us  also  with  Jesus,  and 
shall  present  us  with  you. — 2  Cor.  4.  14. 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  17 

For  our  light  affliction,  which  is  for  the 
moment,  worketh  for  us  more  and  more 
exceedingly  an  eternal  weight  of  glory; 
while  we  look  not  at  the  things  which  are 
seen,  but  at  the  things  which  are  not  seen : 
for  the  things  which  are  seen  are  temporal ; 
but  the  things  which  are  not  seen  are  eter- 
nal.— 2  Cor,  4.  //,  18. 

For  we  know  that  if  the  earthly  house 
of  our  tabernacle  be  dissolved,  we  have  a 
building  from  God,  a  house  not  made  with 
hands,  eternal,  in  the  heavens. 


For  indeed  we  that  are  in  this  tabernacle 
do  groan,  being  burdened ;  not  for  that  we 
would  be  unclothed,  but  that  we  would 
be  clothed  upon,  that  what  is  mortal  may 
be  swallowed  up  of  life. — 2  Cor.  5.  1-4. 

For  to  me  to  live  is  Christ,  but  to  die 
is  gain. — Phil.  i.  21. 

That  I  may  know  him,  and  the  power  of 
his  resurrection,  ...  if  by  any  means  I 
may  attain  unto  the  resurrection  from  the 
dead. — Phil.  j.  10,  11. 


i8  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

Who  shall  fashion  anew  the  body  of  our 
humiliation,  that  it  may  be  conformed  to 
the  body  of  his  glory,  according  to  the 
working  whereby  he  is  able  even  to  subject 
all  things  unto  himself. — Phil.  3.  21. 

When  Christ  who  is  our  life,  shall  be 
manifested,  then  shall  ye  also  with  him  be 
manifested  in  glory. — Col.  j.  4, 

But  we  would  not  have  you  ignorant, 
brethren,  concerning  them  that  fall  asleep; 
that  ye  sorrow  not,  even  as  the  rest,  who 
have  no  hope.  For  if  we  believe  that  Jesus 
died  and  rose  again,  even  so  them  also  that 
are  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus  will  God  bring 
with  him  .  .  .  Wherefore  comfort  one  an- 
other with  these  words. — /  Thess.  4.  13. 

Fight  the  good  fight  of  the  faith,  lay  hold 
on  the  life  eternal. — /  Tim.  6.  12. 

Manifested  by  the  appearing  of  our 
Saviour  Christ  Jesus,  who  abolished  death, 
and  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light 
through  the  gospel. — 2  Tim.  i.  10. 

Henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  the 
crown   of   righteousness,   which   the   Lord, 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  19 

the  righteous  judge,  shall  give  to  me  at  that 
day ;  and  not  to  me  only,  but  also  to  all 
them  that  have  loved  his  appearing. — 2 
Tim.  4.  8. 

Looking  for  the  blessed  hope  and  appear- 
ing of  the  glory  of  the  great  God  and  our 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ. — Titus  2.  /j. 

Are  they  not  all  ministering  spirits,  sent 
forth  to  do  service  for  the  sake  of  them  that 
shall  inherit  salvation? — Heb.   i.   14. 

There  remaineth  therefore  a  sabbath  rest 
for  the  people  of  God. — Heb.  4.  p. 

But  now  they  desire  a  better  country,  that 
is,  a  heavenly:  wherefore  God  is  not 
ashamed  of  them,  to  be  called  their  God; 
for  he  hath  prepared  for  them  a  city. — 

Heb.  II.  16. 

Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  according  to  his 
great  mercy  begat  us  again  unto  a  living 
hope  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ 
from  the  dead,  unto  an  inheritance  incor- 
ruptible, and  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not 
away,  reserved  in  heaven. — /  Pet.  i.  j,  4. 


20  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

And  this  is  the  promise  which  he 
promised  us,  even  the  Hfe  eternal. — i  John 

Beloved,  now  are  we  children  of  God,  and 
it  is  not  yet  made  manifest  what  we  shall 
be.  We  know  that,  if  he  shall  be  mani- 
fested, we  shall  be  like  him;  for  we  shall 
see  him  even  as  he  is. — /  John  ^.  2. 

These  things  have  I  written  unto  you, 
that  ye  may  know  that  ye  have  eternal  life. 
— I  John  5.  Jj. 

And  we  know  that  the  Son  of  God  is 
come,  and  hath  given  us  an  understanding, 
that  we  know  him  that  is  true,  and  we 
are  in  him  that  is  true,  even  in  his  Son 
Jesus  Christ.  This  is  the  true  God,  and 
eternal  life. — /  John  5.  20. 

Keep  yourselves  in  the  love  of  God,  look- 
ing for  the  mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
unto  eternal  life. — Jude,  verse  21. 

Revelation 

He  that  overcometh,  I  will  give  to  him 
to  sit  down  with  me  in  my  throne,  as  I  also 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  21 

overcame,  and  sat  down  with  my  Father 
in  his  throne. — Rev.  j.  21. 

After  these  things  I  saw,  and  behold, 
a  great  multitude,  which  no  man  could  num- 
ber, out  of  every  nation  and  of  all  tribes 
and  peoples  and  tongues,  standing  before 
the  throne  and  before  the  Lamb,  arrayed  in 
white  robes,  and  palms  in  their  hands; 
and  they  cry  with  a  great  voice,  saying, 
Salvation  unto  our  God  who  sitteth  on  the 
throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb.  .  .  .  And  they 
fell  before  the  throne  on  their  faces,  and 
worshiped  God,  saying,  Amen:  Blessing, 
and  glory,  and  wisdom,  and  thanksgiving, 
and  honor,  and  power,  and  might,  be  unto 
our  God,  for  ever  and  ever.    Amen. 

And  one  of  the  elders  answered,  saying 
unto  me,  These  that  are  arrayed  in  the 
white  robes,  who  are  they,  and  whence 
came  they?  And  I  say  unto  him.  My  lord, 
thou  knowest.  And  he  said  to  me.  These 
are  they  that  come  out  of  the  great  tribula- 
tion, and  they  washed  their  robes,  and  made 
them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb. 
Therefore  are  they  before  the  throne  of 
God;  and  they  serve  him  day  and  night  in 
his  temple:  and  he  that  sitteth  on  the  throne 


22  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

shall  spread  his  tabernacle  over  them.  They 
shall  hunger  no  more,  neither  thirst  any 
more;  neither  shall  the  sun  strike  upon 
them,  nor  any  heat:  for  the  Lamb  that  is 
in  the  midst  of  the  throne  shall  be  their 
shepherd,  and  shall  guide  them  unto  foun- 
tains of  waters  of  life;  and  God  shall  wipe 
away  every  tear  from  their  eyes. — Rev.  J. 
9-17. 

And  I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven  saying. 
Write,  Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the 
Lord  from  henceforth:  yea,  saith  the  Spirit, 
that  they  may  rest  from  their  labors;  for 
their  works  follow  with  them. — Rev.  14.  7J. 

And  they  shall  see  his  face;  and  his  name 
shall  be  in  their  foreheads.  And  there 
shall  be  night  no  more;  and  they  need  no 
light  of  lamp,  neither  light  of  sun;  for  the 
Lord  God  shall  give  them  light:  and  they 
shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever. — Rev.  22.  4. 


3JmmortaIitp  in  tfje  ancient  Wtitin^ii 

The  soul  being  a  bright  fire,  by  the  power 
of  the  Father  remains  immortal. 

The  soul  of  man  will  in  a  manner  clasp 
God  to  herself. — From  a  Translation  of 
the  Writings  of  Zoroaster. 

When  the  day  shall  come  that  will  sepa- 
rate this  composition,  human  and  divine, 
I  will  leave  this  body  here,  where  I  found 
it,  and  return  to  the  gods.  Not  that  I  am 
altogether  absent  from  them  even  now, 
though  detained  from  superior  happiness 
by  this  heavy  earthly  clog. 

This  short  stay  in  mortal  life  is  but  the 
prelude  to  a  better  and  more  lasting  life 
above.  .  .  .  That  day  which  men  are  apt 
to  dread  as  their  last  is  but  the  birthday 
of  an  eternity. — From  a  Translation  of  the 
Writings  of  Seneca. 

The  great,  the  wise,  the  valiant,  the  beau- 
tiful— alas!   where   are   they   now?     They 
are  all  mingled   with  the  clod;   and   that 
23 


24  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

which  has  befallen  to  them  shall  happen 
to  us  and  to  those  that  come  after  us.  Yet, 
let  us  take  courage.  .  .  .  Let  us  aspire  to 
that  heaven  where  all  is  eternal,  and  cor- 
ruption cannot  come.  The  horrors  of  the 
tomb  are  but  the  cradle  of  the  Sun,  and  the 
dark  shadows  of  death  are  brilliant  lights 
for  the  stars. — From  a  Translation  of  the 
Writings  of  the  Indian  Monarch,  Nezahual- 
coyotl. 


3mmortaIitj>  in  jBobern  literature 

The  Poets 

My  own  dim  life  should  teach  me  this, 
That  Hfe  shall  live  for  evermore, 
Else  earth  is  darkness  at  the  core, 

And  dust  and  ashes  all  that  is. 

O  yet  we  trust  that  somehow  good 
Will  be  the  final  goal  of  ill, 
To  pangs  of  nature,  sins  of  will, 

Defects  of  doubt,  and  taints  of  blood ; 

That  nothing  walks  with  aimless  feet, 
That  not  one  life  shall  be  destroyed. 
Or  cast  as  rubbish  to  the  void, 

When  God  hath  made  the  pile  complete. 
— Alfred  Tennyson. 

The  stars  shall  fade  away,  the  sun  him- 
self grow  dim  with  age,  and  nature  sink  in 
years;  but  thou  (my  soul)  shalt  flourish  in 
immortal  youth,  unhurt  amid  the  war  of 
elements,  the  wreck  of  matter,  and  the 
crash  of  worlds. — Joseph  Addison. 
25 


26  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

I  go  to  prove  my  soul ! 
I  see  my  way  as  birds  their  trackless  way. 
I  shall  arrive !  What  time,  what  circuit  first, 
I  ask  not ;  but  unless  God  send  his  hail 
Or  blinding  fireballs,  sleet,  or  stifling  snow 
In  some  time,  his  good  time,  I  shall  arrive : 
He  guides  me  and  the  bird.  In  his  good 
time. 

— Robert  Browning. 

It  must  be  so !    Plato,  thou  reasonest  well ! 

Else  whence  this  pleasing  hope,  this  fond 
desire. 

This  longing  after  immortality? 

'Tis  the  divinity  that  stirs  within  us; 

'Tis  Heaven  itself  that  points  out  an  here- 
after. 

And  intimates  eternity  to  man. 

— Joseph  Addison. 

We  see  but  dimly  through  the  mists  and 
vapors ; 

Amid  these  earthly  damps. 
What  seem  to  us  but  sad  funereal  tapers 

May  be  heaven's  distant  lamps. 

There  is  no  death !  what  seems  so  is  transi- 
tion ; 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  27 

This  life  of  mortal  breath 
Is  but  a  suburb  of  the  life  elysian, 
Whose  portal  we  call  Death. 

— H.  W .  Longfellow. 

Who  hath  not  learned  in  hours  of  faith 
This  truth  to  flesh  and  sense  unknown; 

That  life  is  ever  lord  of  death, 

And  Love  can  never  lose  its  own ! 

— John  Greenleaf  Whittier. 

Sunset  and  evening  star, 

And  one  clear  call  for  me ! 
And  may  there  be  no  moaning  of  the  bar 

When  I  put  out  to  sea. 

But  such  a  tide  as  moving  seems  asleep. 

Too  full  for  sound  or  foam, 
When  that  which  drew  from  out  the  bound- 
less deep 

Turns  again  home. 

Twilight  and  evening  bell, 

And  after  that  the  dark ! 
And  may  there  be  no  sadness  of  farewell 

When  I  embark; 

For  though  from  out  our  bourne  of  Time 
and  Place 


28  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

The  flood  may  bear  me  far, 
I  hope  to  see  my  Pilot  face  to  face 
When  I  have  crossed  the  bar. 

— Alfred  Tennyson. 

There  is  a  day  of  sunny  rest, 

For  every  dark  and  troubled  night ; 

Grief  may  abide  an  evening  guest, 

But  joy  shall  come  with  morning  light. 

For  God  has  marked  each  sorrowing  day, 
And  numbered  every  secret  tear. 

And  heaven's  long  age  of  bliss  shall  pay 
For  all  his  children  suffer  here. 

— William  Cullen  Bryant. 

"Deem  not  that  they  are  blest."  Copyright  by  D.  Appleton  &  Co. 

I  know  this  earth  is  not  my  sphere, 
For  I  cannot  so  narrow  me  but  that 
I  still  exceed  it. 

— Robert  Browning. 

Take    the    joys    and    bear    the    sorrows — 

neither  with  extreme  concern ! 
Living  here   means   nescience   simply;   'tis 

next  life  that  helps  to  learn. 
Shut  those  eyes  next  life  will  open — stop 

those  ears  next  life  will  teach 
Hearing's  office;  close  those  lips  next  life 

will  give  the  power  of  speech! 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  29 

Or,  if  action  more  amuse   thee  than  the 

passive  attitude, 
Bravely  bustle  through  thy  being,  busy  thee 

for  ill  or  good. 
Reap  this  life's  success  or  failure!     Soon 

shall  things  be  unperplexed. 
And  the  right  or  v^rong,  now  tangled,  lie 

unraveled  in  the  next. 

— Robert  Browning. 

For  I  must  be  immortal, 
Not  doomed  to  die,  but  surely  called  to  live 
Here  and  hereafter  by  His  loving  will 
Who  placed  me  where  I  am. 

— Alfred  Tennyson. 

And  I,  with  faltering  footsteps,  journey  on, 
Watching  the  stars  that  roll  the  hours  away, 
Till  the  faint  light  that  guides  me  now  is 

gone. 
And,  like  another  life,  the  glorious  day 
Shall   open    o'er   me    from    the    empyreal 

height, 
With  warmth,  and  certainty,  and  bound- 
less light. 

— William  Cullen  Bryant. 

This  body  is  my  house — it  is  not  I ; 
Herein  I  sojourn  till,  in  some  far  sky, 


30  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

I  lease  a  fairer  dwelling,  built  to  last 

Till  all  the  carpentery  of  time  is  past, 

When  from  my  high  place  viewing  this  lone 
star, 

What  shall  I  care  where  these  poor  timbers 
are? 

What  though  the  crumbling  walls  turn  dust 
and  loam — 

I  shall  have  left  them  for  a  larger  home. 

What     though     the     rafters     break,     the 
stanchions  rot, 

When  earth  has  dwindled  to  a  glimmering 
spot! 

When  thou,  clay  cottage,   fallest,   I'll  im- 
merse 

My  long-cramped  spirit  in  the  universe. 

Through  uncomputed  silences  of  space 

I  shall  yearn  upward  to  the  leaning  Face. 

The  ancient  heavens  will  roll  aside  for  me. 

As  Moses  monarched  the  dividing  sea. 

This  body  is  my  house — it  is  not  I. 

Triumphant  in  this  faith  I  live,  and  die. 
— Frederic  Laivrence  Knowles. 

"Th«  Ttnant."    Copyright  by  Dana  EsUa  &  Co. 

Admit   immortal   life. 
And  virtue  is  knight-errantry  no  more; 
Each  virtue  brings  in  hand  a  golden  dower 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  31 

Far  richer  in  reversion ;  Hope  exults, 
And,   though   much   bitter   in   the   cup   is 

thrown, 
Predominates  and  gives  the  taste  of  heaven. 
Oh,  wherefore  is  the  Deity  so  kind? 
Astonishing  beyond  astonishment! 
Heaven   our   reward    for  heaven   enjoyed 

below. 

— Edward  Young. 

Our  life  is  onward,  and  our  very  dust 
Is  longing  for  its  change,  that  it  may  take 
New  combination— that  the  soul  may  break 
From  its  dark  thralldom,  where  it  lies  in 

trust 
Of  its  great  resurrection.    Not  the  rust 
Of  cold  inertness  shall  defeat  the  life 
Of  e'en  the  poorest  which  after  strife 
Shall    spring    from    our   dead   ashes,   and 

which  must 
Bless  some  else  barren  waste  with  its  meek 

grace. 
And  germs  of  beautiful  vast  thought  con- 
cealed. 
Lie  deep  within  the  soul  which  evermore 
Onward  and  upward  strives.     The  last  in 

place 
Enfolds  the  higher  yet  to  be  revealed, 


32  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

And  each  the  sepulcher  of  that  which  went 
before. 

— Elisabeth  Oakes  Smith. 

O  happy  world !  O  glorious  place ! 

Where  all  who  are  forgiven 
Shall  find  their  loved  and  lost  below, 
And  hearts,  like  meeting  streams,  shall  flow 

Forever  one,  in  heaven. 

— Anon. 

Not  by  the  dross  of  worlds  we  gauge  the 

mind ; 
Nor  by  material  laws  is  it  confined. 
Though  mighty  are  the  orbs  which  roll  in 

space. 
Mightier  far  the  soul  to  run  its  race. 
Transcending  time,  eliminating  space. 
In  unseen  things  its  destiny  to  trace. 

Not  for  a  moment,  then,  the  mind  confine — 
It  claims  eternity  as  well  as  time. 
Absolved  from  matter,  there's  no  time  or 

space. 
Nor  past  nor  future  in  its  mighty  race. 
An  endless  now — one  bright  eternal  day — 
When  once  the  soul  from  earth  shall  pass 

away. 

— Daniel  Forbes  Lockerbv- 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  33 

The  battle  is  ended;  the  hero  goes 

Worn  and  scarred  to  his  last  repose. 

He   has   won   the  day:   he   has  conquered 

doom, 
He    has    sunk    unknown    to    his    nameless 

tomb. 
For  the  victor's  glory  no  voice  may  plead, 
Fame  has  no  echo  and  earth  no  meed; 
But    the    guardian    angels    are    hovering 

near — 
They  have  watched  unseen  o'er  the  conflict 

here — 
And  they   bear   him  now   on   their   wings 

away 
To  a  realm  of  peace,  to  a  cloudless  day. 
Ended  now  is  earthly  strife, 
And  his  brow  is  crowned  with  the  crown 

of  Hfe. 

— Anne  C.  Lynch. 

Some  day  thou,  too,  shalt  go, 

Shalt  pass  beyond  the  gate, 
Beyond  the  sunset's  glow. 
Beyond  the  ebb  and  flow 

Of  time  and  change  and  fate; 

See  what  there  is  to  see. 
Know  what  there  is  to  know, 

Be  what  is  thine  to  be. 


34  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

Soul !   Soul !  Thou  shalt  be  free 
That  day  when  thou  shalt  go ! 

— Helen  Hazvthorne. 

"Thou  Shalt  B«  Fr«e,"  In  Christian  Regljter,  Boston,  Mast. 

Life!   We've  been  so  long  together, 
Through    pleasant    and    through    cloudy 

weather, 
'Tis  hard  to  part  when  friends  are  dear — 
Perhaps  'twill  cost  a  sigh,  a  tear ; 
Then  steal  away,  give  little  warning, 
Choose   thine   own   time;   say   not   "Good 

night," 
But  in  some  brighter  clime  bid  me  ''Good 

morning.'* 

— Mrs.  A.  L.  Barhauld. 

And  I  sit  and  think  when  the  sunset's  gold 

Is  flushing  river,  and  hill,  and  shore, 
I  shall  one  day  stand  by  the  water  cold. 
And  Hst  for  the  sound  of  the  boatman's 
oar; 
I  shall  watch  for  a  gleam  of  the  flapping 
sail ; 
I    shall   hear  the   boat  as   it   gains   the 
strand ; 
I  shall  pass  from  sight  with  the  boatman 
pale, 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  35 

To  the  better  shore  of  the  spirit  land. 
I    shall   know    the   loved   who    have   gone 
before, 
And  joyfully  sweet  will  the  meeting  be, 
When  over  the  river,  the  peaceful  river, 
The  angel  of  death  shall  carry  me. 

— Nancy  A.  W.  Priest. 

What  care  I  though  falls  the  sky 

And  the  shivering  earth  to  a  cinder  turn  ? 

No  fires  of  doom  can  ever  consume 

What  never  was  made  nor  meant  to  burn ! 

Let  go  the  breath!    There  is  no  death 
To  a  living  soul,  nor  loss,  nor  harm. 

Not  of  the  clod  is  the  life  of  God — 
Let  it  mount  as  it  will  from  form  to  form. 
— Charles  Gordon  Ames. 

I  hold  that,  since  by  death  alone 
God  bids  my  soul  go  free, 

In  death  a  richer  blessing  is 
Than  all  the  world  to  me. 
— Schefiier,  translated  by  Frederic  Rowland 

Marvin. 

A  human  soul  went  forth  into  the  night, 
Shutting   behind    it    Death's    mysterious 
door, 


36  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

And    shaking    off,   with    strange    resistless 
might 
The  dust  that  once  it  wore. 

So  swift  its  flight,  so  suddenly  it  sped — 
As  when  by  skillful  hand  a  bow  is  bent 

The  arrow  flies — those  watching  round  the 
bed 
Marked  not  the  way  it  went. 

Through  the  clear  silence  of  the  moonless 
dark, 

Leaving  no  footprint  of  the  way  it  trod, 
Straight  as  an  arrow  cleaving  to  its  mark. 

The  soul  went  home  to  God. 

**Alas !"  they  cried,  "he  never  saw  the  morn, 
But    fell    asleep,    outwearied    with    the 
strife" — 
Nay,  rather,  he  arose  and  met  the  dawn 
Of  Everlasting  Life. 

— Christian  Burke. 

Forenoon  and  afternoon  and  night, — Fore- 
noon, 

And  afternoon,  and  night, — Forenoon, 
and —     what  ? 

The  empty  song  repeats  itself.    No  more? 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  37 

Yea,    that    is    Life:    make    this    forenoon 

subHme, 
This  afternoon  a  psalm,  this  night  a  prayer, 
And  Time  is  conquered,  and  thy  crown  is 

won. 

— Edzvard  Rozvland  Sill. 

Copyright,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 

So  Hve  that  when  the  mighty  caravan, 
Which  halts  one  nighttime  in  the  vale  of 

Death, 
Shall  strike  its  white  tents  for  the  morning 

march, 
Thou  shalt  mount  onward  to   the  eternal 

Hills, 
Thy    foot    unwearied,    and    thy    strength 

renewed 
Like    the    strong   eagle's    for   the   upward 

flight. 

— Anon. 

"Thine  eyes  shall  see  the   King."     Soon, 

soon  the  veil 
That   hides   the   glorious   Throne   shall  be 

withdrawn. 
No  cloud   shall  hang  athwart  the  radiant 

dawn 
Of  Heaven's  glad   morning.     Yet   no  eye 

shall  fail  for  all  the  brightness, 


38  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

Perfect  light  will  bring  a  perfect  vision, 
Heavenly  rapture  fall  on  hearts  attuned  to 

comprehend  it  all. 
The  songs  will  not  seem  strange  that  angels 

sing; 
New,  but  not  strange.    The  joy  will  be  most 

sweet, 
Because  most  natural.     To  see  Him  there, 
To  know  and  love  him,  and  his  image  bear 
Will  make  it  homelike.    Though  the  golden 

streets 
Were  more  than  golden,  yet  it  still  would  be 
The  ''Father's  House"  and  nothing  else  to 

thee. 

— Liic\  A.  Bennett. 


Why  should  I  dread  to  pass  the  silent  portal 
That  opens  the  pathway  to  the  great  be- 
yond. 
To  tread  the   road  proclaimed   for   every 
mortal 
When  the  freed  spirit  bursts  its  earthly 
bond  ? 


Do   I   not  know   that   when   this   life   has 
ended, 
And  every  shadow  of  its  care  has  fled, 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  39 

When  all  we  love,  with  whom  our  souls 
have  blended 
Have  sunk  to  rest  with  "those  whom  we 
call  dead," 

That  in  that  land,  over  the  mystic  river, 
Absolved  from  error,  and  devoid  of  stain. 

Blessed  by  the  bounty  of  the  mighty  Giver, 
A  brighter  Hfe  shall  dawn  for  us  again! 

That  there  the  bruised  heart  that  well  nigh 
perished 
Beneath  its  load  of  suffering  and  wrong, 
Sustained  by  Faith,  and  by  Affection  cher- 
ished, 
Shall  thrill  the  heavens  with  its  grateful 
song. 

That  there  the  stricken  souls  who  vainly 
waded 
O'er  Hope's  dead  sea,  never  to  reach  the 
shore. 
Shall    find   their   trusting   ones   with   love 
unfaded, 
No  longer  lost,  but  only  gone  before. 

No  longer,  then,  my  doubt's  absorbing  power 
Dim  the  fair  radiance  of  the  future's  sky; 


40  THE  CO:\IFORT  BOOK 

But  let  nie  wait  in  patience  for  the  hour 
That  kindly  teaches  me,  **  'tis  joy  to  die." 

— /.  H.  Gray. 

So,  thievish  Time,  I  fear  thee  not ; 

Thou'rt  powerless  on  this  heart  of  mine; 
My  precious  jewels  are  mine  own, 

'Tis  but  the  settings  that  are  thine. 

— Charles  Mackay. 

Life  never  dies; 
Body  dies  off  it,  and  it  lives  elsewhere. 
— Bayard  Taylor. 

Of  man  immortal!    Hear  the  lofty  style: 

"If  so  decreed,  th'  Almighty  will  be  done. 

Let    earth    dissolve,    yon    ponderous    orbs 
descend, 

And  grind  us  into  dust:  the  soul  is  safe; 

The  man  emerges ;  mounts  above  the  wreck, 

As  towering  flame  from  Nature's  funeral 
pyre : 

O'er  devastation,  as  a  gainer,  smiles ; 

His  charter,  his  inviolable  rights, 

Well  pleased  to  learn  from  thunder's  im- 
potence 

Death's  pointless  darts,  and  Hell's  defeated 
storms." 

— Edzvard  Young. 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  41 

But  soon  the  doubt  and  toil  and  strife  of 

earth  shall  all  be  done, 
And  knowledge  of  our  endless  life  be  in 

a  moment  won. 

— Otzuay  Curry. 


Is  it  not  sweet  to  think,  hereafter, 

When  the  spirit  leaves  this  sphere, 
Love,  with  deathless  wing,  shall  waft  her 

To  those  she  long  hath  mourned  for  here? 
Hearts  from  which  'twas  death  to  sever, 

Eyes  this  world  can  ne'er  restore, 
There,  as  warm,  as  bright  as  ever, 

Shall  meet  us  and  be  lost  no  more. 


Alas!  alas!  doth  Hope  deceive  us? 

Shall    friendship — love— shall    all    those 
ties 
That  bind  a  moment,  and  then  leave  us, 

Be  found  again  wdiere  nothing  dies? 
Oh !  if  no  other  boon  were  given 

To  our  hearts  from  wrong  and  stain, 
Who  would  not  try  to  win  a  heaven 

Where  all  we  love  shall  live  again  ? 
— Thomas  Moore, 


42  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

Religious  Writers 

Breathe  on  me,  Breath  of  God, 

Till  I  am  wholly  thine, 
Till  all  this  earthly  part  of  me 

Glows  with  thy  fire  divine. 

Breathe  on  me,  Breath  of  God, 

So  shall  I  never  die. 
But  live  with  thee  the  perfect  life 

Of  thine  eternity. 

— Edwin  Hatch. 

The  tomb  is  but  the  gateway  to  an  eter- 
nity of  opportunity. 

— Anon. 

Thus  nothing  dies,  or  only  dies  to  live. 
Sun,  star,  stream,  flower,  the  dewdrop, 
and  the  gold ; 
Each  goodly  thing,   instinct   with  buoyant 
hope, 
Hastes  to  put  on  its  purer,  finer  mold. 

Thus  in  the  quiet  joy  of  kindly  trust, 
We  bid  each  parting  saint  a  brief  fare- 
well; 

Weeping,  yet  smiling,  we  commit  their  dust 
To  the  safe-keeping  of  the  silent  cell. 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  43 

Softly   within   that   peaceful   resting  place 

We  lay  their  wearied  limbs,  and  bid  the 

clay 

Press  lightly  on  them  till  the  night  be  past, 

And  the   far  east  give  warning  of   the 

coming  day. 

The  day  of  reappearing!     How  it  speeds! 
He  who  is  true  and  faithful  speaks  the 
word. 
Then  shall  we  ever  be  with  those  we  love. 
Then  shall  we  be  forever  with  the  Lord. 
— H  or  at  ins  Bonar. 

It  is  not  death  to  die — 
To  leave  this  weary  road, 

And,  mid  the  brotherhood  on  high, 
To  be  at  home  with  God. 

It  is  not  death  to  close 

The  eye  long  dimmed  by  tears. 

And  wake  in  glorious  repose 
To  spend  eternal  years. 

— George  W.  Bethune. 

I  go  to  life  and  not  to  death ; 

From  darkness  to  life's  native  sky; 
I  go  from  sickness  and  from  pain 

To  health  and  immortality. 


44  TI-IE  COMFORT  BOOK 

God  lives!    Who  says  that  I  must  die? 

I  cannot  while  Jehovah  liveth ! 
Christ  lives!    I  cannot  die,  but  live; 

He  life  to  me  forever  giveth. 

— Horatiiis  Bonar. 

The  heavenly  home  is  bright  and  fair : 
Nor  death  nor  sighing  visits  there ; 
Its  glittering  towers  the  sun  outshine; 
That  heavenly  mansion  shall  be  mine. 

Then  fail  this  earth,  let  stars  decline, 
And  sun  and  moon  refuse  to  shine ; 
All  nature  sink  and  cease  to  be, 
That  heavenly  mansion  stands  for  me. 

— William  Hunter. 

Yes,  w^e  do  but  die  to  live ; 

It  is  from  death  we're  flying; 
Forever  lives  our  Hfe; 

For  us  there  is  no  dying. 
We  die  but  as  the  Spring-bud  dies, 
In  Summer's  golden  glow  to  rise, 
These  be  our  days  of  April  bloom ; 
Our  Summer  is  beyond  the  tomb. 

— Horatius  Bonar. 

Are  you  faint  with  hope  delayed? 
Life  is  long! 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  45 

Tarries  that  for  which  you  prayed  ? 

Life  is  long! 
What  dehghts  may  not  abide — 
What  ambitions  satisfied — 
^^'hat  possessions  may  not  be 
In  God's  great  eternity  ? 
Lift  the  heart!   Be  glad  and  strong! 

Life  is  long! 

—Amos  R.  Wells. 

"The  Length  of  Life."    Copyright  by  Houghton,  Mifflin  A  Co. 

It  was  the  fancy  of  the  ancients  to  speak 
of  the  "sleep  of  death";  but  for  the  Chris- 
tian, life  is  the  sleep  from  which  death 
awakens  him.  ''Our  birth  is  but  a  sleep  and 
a  forgetting." 

In  death  the  spirit  opens  its  eyes,  recalled 
from  a  troubled  dream  to  the  realities  of 
life  which  have  all  the  time  surrounded  it 
unseen,  and  to  the  Father,  who  has  been 
all  the  time  ''not  far  from  any  one  of  us." 
— F.  W.  Henry. 

Through  the  Darkness.    Copyright,  1884,  by  E.  P.  Putton  &  Co, 

But  little  is  said  in  the  New  Testament 
about  death.  We  have  very  clear  and  defi- 
nite assertions  of  the  fact  of  immortality, 
but  mere  hints  only  of  the  form  of  the  life 
into  which  the  earthly  life  emerges,  through 


46  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

dying.  Two  of  the  most  vivid  of  the  ex- 
pressions  used  by  St.  Paul  in  speaking  of 
what  occurs  in  dying  are  in  the  phrases 
"absent  from  the  body"  and  "at  home  with 
the  Lord."  In  dying  we  leave  the  body, 
which  has  been  "the  earthly  house  of  our 
tabernacle"  during  our  stay.  The  old  house 
is  empty — the  tenant  has  gone  out  of  it. 
But  we  are  not  homeless  now,  because  of 
our  eviction  from  the  earthly  house;  we 
are  "at  home  with  the  Lord."  That  is,  we 
have  a  far  more  glorious  dwelling  place 
than  the  one  we  were  in  before.  "We  know 
that  if  the  earthly  house  of  our  tabernacle 
be  dissolved,  we  have  a  building  from  God, 
a  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal,  in 
the  heavens."  Instead  of  a  tent,  which  is 
frail  and  temporary,  liable  to  decay  and 
dissolution,  our  new  habitation  is  a  building 
from  God,  not  made  with  hands,  eternal. 
Instead  of  an  earthly  house,  our  new  home 
is  in  the  heavens.  Instead  of  a  place  of 
pain  and  suffering  in  which  we  groan,  being 
burdened,  when  we  leave  it  we  shall  find 
ourselves  at  once  at  home  with  Christ. 
There  is  no  time  for  wandering,  unclothed, 
as  disembodied  spirits,  seeking  for  a  new 
habitation  in  which  to  dwell,  but  the  mo- 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  47 

ment  we  are  absent  from  the  body  we  shall 
find  ourselves  at  home  in  heaven.  Our  new 
habitation  will  be  a  home,  with  all  the 
blessed  meaning  of  that  word;  it  will  be 
eternal ;  it  will  be  with  Christ. — /.  R.  Miller. 

Tba  Book  of  Comfort    Copyright  by  Thomas  Y.  Crowd!  Company. 

Fly,  envious  Time,   till  thou  run   out  thy 

race, 
For   when   as   each   bad   thing   thou   hast 

entomb'd. 
And  last  of  all  thy  greedy  self  consumed, 
Then  long  eternity  shall  greet  our  bliss 
With  an  individual  kiss ; 
And  joy  shall  overtake  us  as  a  flood. 
When  everything  that  is  sincerely  good 
And  perfectly  divine, 
With  Truth  and  Peace  and  Love  shall  ever 

shine 
About  the  supreme  throne 
Of  Him  to  whose  happy-making  sight  alone 
When  once  our  heavenly  guided  soul  shall 

climb, 
Then,  all  this  earthly  grossness  quit, 
Attired  with  stars  we  shall  forever  sit 
Triumphing  over  Death,  and  Chance,  and 
thee,  O  Time. 

— Anon. 


48  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

The  strife  is  o'er,  the  battle  done; 
The  victory  of  Hfe  is  won ; 
The  song  of  triumi:>h  has  begun. 

— Francis  Pott. 

Paul,  as  a  Christian,  knew  that  we  should 
not  be  "unclothed  but  clothed  upon."  What 
we  have  to  look  forward  to  is  not  a  process 
of  subtraction  but  of  addition.  All  that 
this  body  has  been  meaning  to  me  in  this 
world — of  sense  and  growing  knowledge 
and  power  and  manifested  identity — all  that 
and  more  my  Christian  faith  promises  me 
in  the  world  beyond.  For  even  if  this  mor- 
tal body  should  wear  out  and  be  dissolved, 
my  faith  promises  me  something  which  it 
is  fair  to  call,  as  the  apostle  calls  it,  *'a 
spiritual  body."  My  Lord's  own  victory 
over  the  grave  has  given  this  assurance  to 
all  his  people  that  there  is  for  them  in  the 
spiritual  life  beyond,  something  that  shall 
mean  to  them  all  of  advantage  that  this 
natural  body  has  ever  meant  to  us  in  the 
life  here  on  earth;  that  death  shall  not 
condemn  us  to  the  shivering  nakedness  of 
pagan  despair,  that  we  shall  not  be  un- 
clothed but  clothed,  that  mortality  may  be 
swallowed  up  of  life. 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  49 

At  the  same  time  I  am  well  assured  that 
all  the  rich  and  novel  experiences  of  that 
unknown  future  shall  never  rob  me  of  this 
personal  identity  to  which  I  cling  so  fondly 
now  for  myself  and  for  my  friends ;  for  the 
very  principle  of  this  identity  which  all 
through  my  life  has  been  ordering  all  these 
changing  particles  of  matter  into  one  body 
for  me  has  been  nothing  but  the  breath  of 
life  in  me,  my  own  living  self.  And  I  my- 
self, blessed  be  God,  am  going  to  live  on. 
It  is  a  mystery,  as  all  life  is  .  .  .  But  the 
mystery  grows  radiant  through  our  Lord's 
great  triumph  over  corruption  and  death. 
...  As  Christians  we  beheve  in  that  ever- 
lasting life.  All  one  Hfe  it  is,  a  life  which 
the  accidents  of  time  can  never  interrupt, 
and  over  which  death  has  no  power. — 
W.  R.  Richards,  in  the  Bible  Study  Quar- 
terly. 

To   think    for   aye!    to   breathe   immortal 

breath. 
And  know  nor  hope,  nor  fear,  of  ending 

death ; 
To  see  the  myriad  worlds  that  round  us  roll 
Wax  old  and  perish,  while  the  steadfast 

soul 


50  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

Stands  fresh  and  moveless  in  her  sphere  of 
thought ; 

O  God  omnipotent!  who  in  me  wrought 
This  conscious  world,  whose  ever-growing 

orb, 
When  the  dead  Past  shall  all  in  time  absorb. 
Will  be  as  but  begun, — oh,  of  thine  own 
Give  of  the  holy  light  that  veils  thy  throne, 
That  darkness  be  not  mine,  to  take  my  place 
Beyond  the  reach  of  light,  a  blot  in  space! 
So  may  this  wondrous  life,  from  sin  made 

free. 
Reflect  thy  love  for  aye,  and  to  thy  glory  be ! 
— Washington  Allston. 

What  though  with  weariness  oppressed  ? 
'Tis  but  a  little  and  we  rest. 
This  throbbing  heart  and  burning  brain 
Will  soon  be  calm  and  cool  again. 
Night  is  far  spent  and  morn  is  near, — 
Morn  of  the  cloudless  and  the  clear! 

We  grudge  not,  then,  the  toil,  the  way: 
Its  ending  is  the  endless  day ! 
We  shrink  not  from  these  tempests  keen. 
With  little  of  the  calm  between; 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  51 

We  welcome  each  descending  sun, — 
Ere  morn,  our  joy  may  be  begun ! 

— Horatiits  Bonar, 

So  when  my  latest  breath 
Shall  rend  the  veil  in  twain, 

By  death  I  shall  escape  from  death. 
And  life  eternal  gain. 

— James  Montgomery, 

I  have  learned 
This  doctrine  from  the  vanishing  of  youth. 
The  pictured  primer,  true,  is  thrown  aside; 
But  its  first  lesson  liveth  in  my  heart. 
I  shall  go  on  through  all  eternity. 
Thank  God,  I  am  only  an  embryo  still ; 
The  small  beginning  of  a  glorious  soul. 
An  atom  that  shall  fill  immensity. 

~A.  C.  Coxe. 

My  soul  shall  sec  the  eternal  day, 
And  dwell  with  God  forever ! 

— Thomas  Dale. 

I  think  of  death  as  some  delightful  journey 
That  I  shall  take  when  all  my  tasks  are 
done ; 


52  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

Though    life    has    given    me    a    heaping 

measure 
Of    all    best    gifts,    and    many    a    cup    of 

pleasure, 
Still  better  things  await  me  farther  on. 

This  little  earth  is  such  a  pleasant  planet, 

The  distances  beyond  it  so  supreme, 
I  have  no  doubt  that  all  the  mighty  spaces 
Between  us  and  the  stars  are  filled  with 
faces 
More  beautiful  than  any  artist's  dream. 

I  like  to  think  that  I  shall  yet  behold  them. 
When  from  this  waiting  room  my  soul 
has  soared. 
Earth    is    a    wayside    station,    where    we 

wander 
Until  from  out  the  silent  darkness  yonder. 
Death  swings  his  lantern,  and  cries,  "All 
aboard !" 

I  think  Death's  train  sweeps  through  the 
solar  system 
And  passes  suns  and  moons  that  dwarf 
our  own, 
And    close   beside    us    we    shall    find    our 
dearest, 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  53 

The   spirit   friends  on   earth   we  held   the 
nearest, 
And  in  the  shining  distance  God's  great 
throne. 


Whatever  disappointment  may  befall  me 
In  plans  or  pleasures  in  this  world  of 
doubt, 
I  know  that  life  at  worst  can  but  delay  me, 
But  no  malicious  fate  has  power  to  stay  me 
From  that  grand  journey  on  the  Great 
Death  route. 

— Theo.  F.  Van  Wagener. 

Novelists  and  Essayists 

Victor  Hugo's  great  soul  found  utterance 
in  his  later  years  for  these  great  thoughts : 

**I  feel  in  myself  the  future  life.  I  am 
like  a  forest  once  cut  down ;  the  new  shoots 
are  stronger  and  livelier  than  ever.  I  am 
rising,  I  know,  toward  the  sky.  The  sun- 
shine is  on  my  head.  The  earth  gives  me 
its  generous  sap,  but  heaven  lights  me  with 
the  reflection  of  unknown  worlds.  You 
say  the  soul  is  nothing  but  the  resultant  of 
the  bodily  powers.  Why,  then,  is  my  soul 
more  luminous  when  my  bodily  powers  be- 


54  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

gin  to  fail?  Winter  is  on  my  head,  but 
eternal  spring  is  in  my  heart.  I  breathe 
at  this  hour  the  fragrance  of  the  lilacs,  the 
violets,  and  the  roses,  as  at  twenty  years. 
The  nearer  I  approach  the  end,  the  plainer 
I  hear  around  me  the  immortal  symphonies 
of  the  world  which  invites  me.  It  is  mar- 
velous yet  simple.  It  is  a  fairy  tale,  and 
it  is  history.  For  half  a  century  I  have 
been  writing  my  thoughts  in  prose  and  in 
verse ;  history,  philosophy,  drama,  romance, 
tradition,  satire,  ode,  and  song ;  I  have  tried 
all.  But  I  feel  I  have  not  said  the  thou- 
sandth part  of  what  is  in  me.  When  I 
go  down  to  the  grave  I  can  say,  like  many 
others,  T  have  finished  my  day's  work.' 
But  I  cannot  say  T  have  finished  my  Hfe.' 
My  day's  work  will  begin  again  the  next 
morning.  The  tomb  is  not  a  blind  alley ;  it 
is  a  thoroughfare.  It  closes  on  the  twilight, 
it  opens  on  the  dawn." 

For  those  who  know  that  God  is  Father 
and  Friend,  who  know  that  all  things  work 
for  ultimate  good  in  his  large  plan ;  who 
know  that  while  he  cares  for  the  universe, 
he  cares  for  every  sparrow,  and  numbers 
every   hair   of   our   head — they   can   tran- 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  55 

quilly  and  gratefully  give  up  to  him  their 
dear  ones,  and  with  tears  in  their  eyes,  and 
yet  with  joy  in  their  heart,  bless  him  for 
the  great  convictions  of  immortality  he  has 
given  us.  We  know  that  these  dear  friends 
of  ours  have  passed  on  before  us,  happy, 
holy  angels,  into  the  society  of  angels,  into 
a  higher  world  of  light  and  love  and  duty. 

We  are  told  that  love  abides ;  and  if  love 
abides,  the  objects  of  love  must  also  abide. 
The  continuance  of  our  human  love  is  one 
of  the  best  evidences,  not  only  of  immor- 
tality, but  also  that  we  are  to  know  our 
friends  again,  and  be  with  them  again  in  the 
other  life.  Else  why  this  undying  memory 
of  our  loved  ones,  this  aching  void  never 
filled? 

If  therefore  we  shall  not  remember  our 
friends  hereafter,  I  think  we  should  not 
remember  anything,  and  if  we  did  not  re- 
member anything,  it  would  be  no  immor- 
tality of  the  soul,  no  continuance  of  the 
same  personal  life.  What  is  immortality, 
if  love  is  not  immortal? 

So  Tennyson,  mourning  his  lost  friend, 
shows  us  in  all  his  tender  strains  of  lamen- 
tation that  he  has  him  still,  because  he  loves 
him  so  truly  and  so  entirely: 


56  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

**Known  and  unknown ;  human,  divine ; 
Sweet  human  hand  and  lips  and  eye ; 
Dear  heavenly  friend  that  canst  not  die, 
Mine,  mine,  forever,  ever  mine." 

— James  Freeman  Clarke. 


Oh,  listen,  man ! 
A  voice  within  us  speaks  the  startling  word, 
Man,  thou  shalt  never  die !   Celestial  voices 
Hymn  it  round  our  souls ;  according  harps, 
By  angel  fingers  touched  when   the  wild 

stars 
Of  morning  sang  together,  sound  forth  still 
The  song  of  our  great  immortality; 
The  dying  hear  it,  and  as  sounds  of  earth 
Grow  dull  and  distant,  wake  their  passing 

souls 
To  mingle  in  this  heavenly  harmony. 

— Richard  H.  Dana. 

It  cannot  be  that  the  earth  is  man's  only 
abiding  place. 

It  cannot  be  that  our  life  is  a  mere  bubble 
cast  up  by  eternity  to  float  a  moment  on 
its  waves  and  then  sink  into  nothingness. 

Else  why  is  it  that  the  glorious  aspira- 
tions which  leap  like  angels  from  the  temple 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  57 

of  our  hearts  arc  forever  wandering  unsat- 
isfied ? 

Why  is  it  that  all  the  stars  that  hold  their 
festival  around  the  midnight  throne  are  set 
above  the  grasp  of  our  Hmited  faculties, 
forever  mocking  us  with  their  unapproach- 
able glory? 

And,  finally,  why  is  it  that  bright  forms 
of  human  beauty  presented  to  our  view 
are  taken  from  us,  leaving  the  thousand 
streams  of  our  affections  to  flow  back  in 
Alpine  torrents  upon  our  hearts  ?  There  is 
a  realm  where  the  rainbow  never  fades; 
where  the  stars  will  be  spread  out  before 
us  like  islands  that  slumber  in  the  ocean; 
and  where  the  beautiful  beings  which  now 
pass  before  us  like  shadows  will  stay  in  our 
presence  forever. — George  D.  Prentice. 

There  is  no  death !  The  stars  go  down, 
To  rise  upon  some  fairer  shore ; 

And  bright  in  heaven's  jeweled  crown 
They  shine  for  evermore. 

There  is  no  death !    An  angel  form 
Walks  o'er  the  earth  with  silent  tread ; 

He  bears  our  best  loved  things  away ; 
And  we  then  call  them  **dead." 


58  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

But  ever  near  us,  though  unseen. 
The  dear  immortal  spirits  tread; 

For  all  the  boundless  universe 
Is  life — there  are  no  dead. 

— /.  L.  McCrcary. 

The  instinct,  which  prompts  the  birds  at 
the  coming  of  v^^inter  to  spread  their  wings 
for  a  warmer  climate,  makes  it  certain  that 
the  feathered  songsters  shall  not  go  south, 
and  shall  not  come  north  in  the  spring,  to  be 
disappointed;  the  instinct  is  safe  and  un- 
erring. 

Shall  God  be  kinder  to  the  birds  than  to 
human  beings?  He  cares  much  more  for 
us  than  for  the  fowls  of  the  air.  If  he  has 
something  to  answer  to  the  migratory  in- 
stincts of  the  birds,  we  may  be  sure  that 
our  expectation  of  a  better  country,  of  a 
fair  summerland,  shall  not  meet  with  dis- 
appointment. The  spirit  that  rises  in  Chris- 
tian faith  from  the  ashes  of  human  mor- 
tality, and  soars  away  toward  the  sky,  is 
going  to  find  the  blessedness  anticipated. 
This  should  be  our  assurance,  as  we  listen 
to  the  singing  of  birds,  to  the  voice  of  the 
turtledove,  to  the  joyous  notes  of  bluebird 
and  robin,  and  the  various  songsters  of  the 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  59 

spring.  .  .  .  The  soul  divinely  guided,  re- 
turns to  God  whence  it  came.  Let  it  but 
follow  the  directions  of  the  still  small  voice 
heard  within,  and  it  will  never  falter  or 
stop  in  its  flight  upward  till  it  rests  in  the 
bosom  of  God,  till  it  finds  its  nest  beyond 
the  stars,  in  that  "home  of  the  soul." 

Beings  with  the  migratory  instinct  for 
heaven  are  not  going  to  be  put  to  shame  at 
the  last.  .  .  .  Man's  grand  ideals  are  over- 
tures of  immortality,  because  they  require 
and  demand  immortality  for  their  realiza- 
tion. .  .  .  Aspirations  are  liens  upon  im- 
mortal life,  and  they  are  stepping  stones 
that  slope  through  the  darkness  up  to  God. 
The  planting  of  a  desire  indicates  that  the 
gratification  of  that  desire  is  in  the  con- 
stitution of  the  creature  that  feels  it.  It 
is  there  structurally.  The  Creator  keeps 
his  word  with  everything  and  everybody. 
— Andrezv  IV.  Archibald. 

The  Easter  Hope,  by  A.  W.  Archibald.     Copyright  by  Sulem  D.  Towae,  BostOD 
Ma8«. 

I  thank  thee,  Father,  that  at  this  simple 
grave  on  which  the  dawn  is  breaking,  em- 
blem of  that  day  which  hath  no  close,  thou 
kindly  unto  my  dark  mind  hath  sent  a 
sacred  light,  and  that  away  from  this  green 


6o  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

hillock,  whither  I  had  come  in  sorrow, 
thou  art  leading  me  in  joy. — Richard  Henry 
Dana. 

The  truest  end  of  life  is  to  know  the  life 
that  never  ends. — William  Penn. 

Haste  not — rest  not.    Calm  in  strife 
Meekly  bear  the  storms  of  life; 
Duty  be  thy  polar  guide; 
Do  the  right,  whate'er  betide ; 
Haste  not — rest  not.  Conflicts  past 
God  shall  crown  thy  work  at  last. 
— Johann  Wolfgang  von  Goethe. 

Will  my  tiny  speck  of  being  wholly  vanish 

in  your  deeps  and  lights  ? 
Must  my   day   be   dark  by  reason,   O  ye 

heavens,  of  our  boundless  nights, 
Rush  of  suns,  and  roll  of  systems,  and  your 

fiery  clash  of  meteorites  ? 

Spirit,  nearing  yon  dark  portal  at  the  limit 

of  my  human  state, 
Fear  not,  thou,  the  hidden  purpose  of  that 

Power  which  alone  is  great. 
Nor  the  myriad  world,  his  shadow,  nor  the 

silent  Opener  of  the  Gate. 

— Anon. 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  6i 

Eternity,  which  cannot  be  far  off,  is  my 
one  strong  city.  I  look  into  it  fixedly  now 
and  then.  All  terms  about  it  seem  to  me 
superfluous.  The  universe  is  full  of  love 
and  of  inexorable  sternness  and  veracity; 
and  it  remains  forever  true  that  God  reigns. 
Patience,  silence,  hope. — Carlyle. 

Still,  still  with  Thee,  when  purple  morning 
breaketh, 
When  the  bird  waketh,  and  the  shadows 
flee; 
Fairer  than  morning,  lovelier  than  daylight, 
Dawns   the   sweet   consciousness,   I   am 
with  thee! 

So  shall  it  be  at  last,  in  that  bright  morning, 
When  the  soul  waketh,  and  life's  shadows 
flee; 
O  in  that  hour,  fairer  than  daylight  dawn- 
ing, 
Shall   rise   the   glorious   thought — I   am 
with  thee! 

— Harriet  Beecher  Stozve. 

I  do  not  believe  in  a  long,  dreary  sleep, 
nor  in  a  "happy  land  far,  far  away."  I 
believe  that  death  is  itself  a  resurrection. 


62  THE  COMFORT  BOOK  ; 

Death  is  the  dropping  away  of  the  body 
from    the    spirit;    resurrection    is   the   up-  ; 
springing  of  the  spirit  from  the  body.    The  \ 
two  are  identical.     Death  is  as  we  see  it  | 
here;  resurrection  is  as  they  see  it  on  the 
other  side  of  the  thin  veil  which  separates 
two  worlds.     And  while  I   frankly  admit  | 
to  myself  and  to  others  that  I  do  not  know  ' 
with  clearly  defined  and  scientific  knowl- 
edge respecting  that  other  world,  I  believe  i 
that  I  have  a  right  to  accept  the  interpre- 
tations of  it  given  by  the  New  Testament, 
confirming  my  own  hopes  and  desires,  and  ! 
to  believe  that  the  friends  who  have  gone 
are  the  great  cloud  of  witnesses  to  which  j 
the  apostle  refers,  and  that  they  look  on  j 
and  see  how  we  run  our  race,  fight  our  i 
battles,  bear  our  burdens  here,  andr  I  have 
wished  so  to  live  and  so  to  carry  myself  j 
in  my  own  sorrow  as  not  to  minister  any  i 
element  of  sorrow  to  her  whom  I  still  re- 
gard as  my  comrade.     I  think  I  can  truly  i 
say  that  I  am  never  less  lonely  than  at  times  i 
when  I  am  alone  and  when  the  choir  in-  \ 
visible  no  longer  seems  invisible,  when  it  , 
seems  to  me  as  though  I  have  only  to  push  > 
open  the  door  and  enter  into  the  other  room  ; 
where  they  are,  unseen  by  me  but  not  un-  j 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  63 

able  to  see  and  minister  to  me. — From  a 
Personal  Letter  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Lyman 
Abbott  to  the  compiler. 

Note.— Dr.  Abbott's  wife  died  ia  Geruiauy  six  yeari  b«for«. 

Man  looks  for  an  hour  of  liberation 
which  shall  repeal  the  flesh  and  cancel  the 
clod.  He  has  a  notion  that  earth's  roof 
is  heaven's  floor,  and  expects  to  break  jail 
by  way  of  the  skylight.  His  understanding 
is  that  when  discharged  and  manumitted 
here  he  is  requisitioned  elsewhere. 

Renan  said  in  his  last  days,  *'The  inward 
worth  of  a  man  is  measured  by  his  reli- 
gious tendencies."  These  are  gravitations 
to  draw  him  home.  ...  It  is  humanity 
being  drawn  home  by  the  hovering  heaven. 
Hid  somewhere  underfoot  in  the  heart  of 
this  rock-crusted  globe  is  the  seat  of  the 
power  called  gravitation  which  holds  man's 
body  down.  Anchored  in  the  hidden  heart 
of  God  above  is  the  attraction  which  con- 
trols the  spirit  and  commands  and  orders 
home  a  liberated  humanity  when  it  slips  the 
leash  of  matter  and  goes  free. 

What  better  can  we  say  than  that  life 
here  is  incubation,  and  death  is  the  final 
launching  away  off  this  narrow  ledge  of 


64  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

Time?  When  liberation  and  levitation 
come,  it  will  not  seem  strange  to  be  afloat 
on  the  bosom  of  eternity,  but  as  natural  as 
nature's  self.  We  were  made  for  that  life 
as  surely  as  for  this,  and  folded  within  us 
are  the  faculties  that  fit  us  for  it.  The 
young  eagle,  pushed  out  of  the  nest  and  off 
the  cliff's  edge,  is  buoyed  by  wings  sufficient 
though  before  untried.  Some  ''full-grown 
power  informs  her  from  the  first,"  and  she 
sweeps  easily  away  through  superior  spaces 
vast  and  unexplored.  .  .  .  She  is  as  much 
at  home  there,  afloat  in  and  supported  on 
the  unseen,  as  ever  she  was  on  the  crag. 
She  knows  neither  strangeness,  nor  danger, 
nor  fear.  She  is  meant  for  the  airy  heavens 
when  her  time  comes,  as  certainly  as  for  the 
cliff  until  her  time  comes.  Nor  could  you 
coax  her  back  to  be  content  with  the  nest 
of  sticks  and  the  narrow  ledge  whence  she 
launched  away  into  her  legitimate  large, 
natural  liberty.  Likewise  the  soul  is 
secretly,  unconsciously  equipped  to  survive 
and  subsist  hereafter  as  naturally  and  as 
easily  as  here.  True  for  all  realms  and 
worlds  are  the  lines : 

**Go  where  he  will,  the  good  man  is  at  home ; 


THE  COiMFORT  BOOK  65 

Where  the  good  Spirit  leads  him,  there's 
his  road, 

By  God's  own  Hght  illumined  and  fore- 
showed." 

August  with  lofty  dignity  are  the  antique 
words  of  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  the  Nor- 
wich physician:  "Those  that  look  merely 
upon  my  outside,  perusing  only  my  condi- 
tion and  fortunes,  do  err  as  to  my  altitude, 
for  I  am  above  Atlas'  shoulders.  The  mass 
of  flesh  that  circumscribes  me  limits  not 
my  mind.  You  cannot  measure  me,  for  I 
take  my  circle  to  be  above  360  degrees. 
There  is  surely  a  piece  of  divinity  in  us. 
.,  .  .  Nature  tells  me  I  am  the  image  of 
God ;  he  that  understands  not  this  much 
hath  not  learned  his  first  lesson  and  is  yet 
to  begin  the  alphabet  of  man."  .  .  . 

Geometry  cannot  measure  Man ;  his  circle 
exceeds  360  degrees.  Astronomy  cannot 
calculate  his  orbit;  it  knows  not  the  equa- 
tion of  his  path.  A  Pilgrim  of  the  Infinite 
is  he;  and  the  old  hymn,  familiar  to  our 
childhood,  sings  on  in  our  souls : 

"Thus   onward   we  move,  and,   save   God 
above. 


66  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

None  guesseth  how  wondrous  the  journey 
will  prove." 

— William  Valentine  Kelley. 


Let  us  trust  the  divine  laws  of  God,  which 
work  on  forever,  creating  evermore  new 
growth,  tending  to  develop  higher  forms, 
nobler  activities,  more  sweet  and  joyful 
lives.  Through  death  we  go  into  higher 
life. — James  Freeman  Clarke, 


Theologians  and  Preachers 

What,  then,  is  this  truth  which  we  be- 
lieve ?    The  dead  live. 

In  the  years  gone  we  had  them  with  us. 
They  separated  from  the  throng  and 
gave  us  their  love.  They  grew  into  our 
being  and  became  a  part  of  us.  One  day 
they  became  weary  and  sick.  We  thought 
nothing  of  it  at  first;  but  morning  after 
morning  came  and  they  were  more  faint. 
The  story  of  the  dark  days  that  followed  is 
too  sad.  One  dreary  night  with  radiant 
face  they  kissed  us  and  said  good-by.  They 
were  dead.  Kind  neighbors  came  in  and 
carried  them  out  of  our  home  and  we  fol- 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  67 

lowed  with  dumb  awe  and  saw  them  lay 
them  down  gently  beneath  the  earth.  We 
returned  to  the  vacant  house  which  never 
could  be  home  any  more.  Our  hearts  were 
broken.  The  earth  and  sky  have  been  so 
dark  since  that  day.  ^^'e  have  searched 
through  the  long  nights  and  desolate  days 
for  them;  they  do  not  come  back.  We 
listen,  but  we  get  no  tidings.  Neither  form 
nor  voice  comes  to  us.  The  dark,  silent 
immensity  has  swallowed  them  up.  Are 
they  extinct?  No.  They  live.  We  cannot 
tell  where,  whether  near  us  or  remote;  we 
cannot  tell  in  what  form,  but  they  live. 
They  are  essentially  the  same  beings  they 
were  when  they  went  in  and  out  among  us. 
There  has  been  no  break  in  their  life.  It 
is  as  if  they  had  crossed  the  sea.  The  old 
memories  and  old  loves  still  are  with  them. 
New  friends  do  not  displace  old  ones.  They 
are  more  beautiful  than  when  we  knew 
them,  and  purer  and  holier  and  happier. 
They  are  not  sick  or  weary  now  and  are 
free  from  all  pain.  They  have  no  sorrow. 
They  are  not  alone.  They  have  joined 
others.  They  think  and  talk  of  us.  They 
make  affectionate  inquiry  for  our  welfare. 
They  wait  for  us.    They  are  learning  great 


68  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

lessons  which  they  mean  to  recite  to  us 
some  day.  They  are  not  lonely;  they  are 
a  glorious  company.  They  have  no  envies 
or  jealousies.  '  They  are  ravished  with  the 
happiness  of  their  new  life.  They  are  kings 
and  priests  unto  God.  They  wear  crowns 
that  flash  in  the  everlasting  light.  They 
wear  robes  that  are  spotless  white.  They 
wave  victorious  palms.  They  sing  anthems 
of  such  exceeding  sweetness  as  no  earthly 
choirs  ever  approach.  They  stand  before 
the  throne.  They  fly  on  ministries  of  love. 
They  are  rapturous  with  ecstasies  of  love. 
God  wipes  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes ; 
and  there  is  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow 
nor  crying,  nor  any  more  pain ;  for  the 
former  things  are  passed  away.  The  glori- 
ous angels  are  their  teachers  and  com- 
panions. .  .  .  The  discussion  of  this  doc- 
trine teaches  us  the  greatness  of  the  future 
and  urges  its  paramount  claims.  How  can 
we  be  charmed  any  more  with  the  earth? 
How  can  we  resist  the  attraction  of  the 
blessed  heaven?  This  time — a  day,  a  mo- 
ment— what  has  it  for  us  that  we  should 
cling  to  it,  love  it  ?  The  immortal  home,  the 
blessed  ones  awaiting  us,  the  spirits  of  just 
men  made  perfect,  the  endless  good  in  store, 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  69 

will  they  not  draw  us  with  irresistible  at- 
traction ? 

These  views  clothe  our  friendships  with  a 
new  charm,  and  enrich  them  with  an  eternal 
value.  Blessed  loves !  how  happy  they  have 
made  us  on  earth;  what  will  they  be  when 
they  have  deepened  through  ages,  with  no 
alloy  of  envy  or  suspicion  or  selfishness,  or 
sorrow ! 

Who  as  he  stands  here  and  looks  into  that 
blessed  state  feels  not  within  him  the  yearn- 
ing to  depart  ? 

Multitudes  stand  waiting  to  receive  us, 
expecting  our  arrival.  With  open  arms  they 
will  embrace  us,  and  with  blessed  welcomes 
attend  us  to  our  prepared  homes. 

Let  us  not  disappoint  them ;  but  be  up 
and  pressing  on  until  the  battle  of  life  is 
fought  and  we  ascend  to  join  them. — 
Bishop  Randolph  S.  Foster. 


Listen,  then,  for  through  the  ages  comes 
a  voice  saying,  "I  am  the  resurrection."  It 
does  not  falter  or  waver,  but  is  clear  and 
strong.  If  that  voice  is  true  you  may  even 
rejoice  at  separation,  for  the  doors  of  an- 
other home  are  swinging  wide  open,  and 


70  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

dear  ones  long  since  departed,  stand  at  the 
threshold  to  welcome  the  new  comer. — 
George  H.  Hepworth. 

Herald  Sermom,  vol.  I.     Copyright,  1897,  by  E.  P.  Button  &  Co. 

Amid  the  drudgery  and  hardship  of  life 
keep  that  truth  in  mind  and  it  will  clear  the 
fogs  away  and  leave  you  in  sunshine.  We 
are  on  the  road  home,  and  the  way  is  some- 
times dark  and  dreary,  but  when  we  get 
there  we  shall  see  that  every  experience  of 
earth  was  intended  to  fit  us  for  the  higher 
joys  of  heaven. 

— George  H ^Hepworth. 

Herala  Sermons.  toI.  II,     Copyright,  1897,  by  E.  P.  Button  4  Co. 


I  am  immortal !  I  should  never  forget  it, 
but  should  carry  myself  as  one  who  cher- 
ishes that  truth.  No  matter  what  my  con- 
ditions in  life  may  be,  whether  I  be  poor  or 
rich,  learned  or  unlettered,  well  or  ill,  strug- 
gling or  at  leisure,  I  am  immortal.  I  shall 
outlive  my  body  and  my  sorrows,  my  tears 
and  my  sighs,  all  hardships  and  heart- 
breakings,  for  God — my  God — will  help  mc 
through  it  all,  and  his  Christ  has  prepared 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  71 

a  place  for  me  where  I  shall  dwell  at  peace 
and  be  at  rest.  .  .  . 

— George  H.  Hepzvorth. 

We  Shall  LIt«  A(;«ln.    Copyricht,  1903,  by  E.  P.  Dutton  A  Co. 

Let  the  current  bear  us  where  it  will,  we 
are  in  God's  hands,  and  the  current  is  sub- 
ject to  his  instruction.  Other  worlds  await 
us.  Larger  opportunities  are  in  the  near 
future.  The  soul,  now  hampered  by  cir- 
cumstances, shall  some  time  be  free;  the 
burden  of  environment  shall  be  dropped, 
and  when  we  are  emancipated  we  shall  be 
larger,  nobler,  and  more  like  the  Christ. 
What  care  we  then  for  time?  The  years 
may  come  and  go  as  they  please  and  their 
speed  does  not  disturb  us.  We  are  on  the 
road'  to  our  eternal  home  and  the  nearer 
we  get  to  it  the  higher  are  our  anticipations, 
the  deeper  are  our  longings.  Earth  is  noth- 
ing when  heaven  is  in  sight.  .  .  .  — George 
H.  Hepworth. 

Makinfc  th«  Moit  ot  Llf*.    Copyright,  1904,  by  E.  P.  Dutton  A  Co. 

As  for  me  the  other  life  is  a  clear  and 
distinct  fact.  I  have  more  faith  in  it  than 
I  have  in  this  life,  and,  thus  believing,  I 
must,  of  course,  regard  it  as  altogether  pref- 
erable to  this  life.    If  either  the  present  or 


y2  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

the  future  is  a  dream,  then,  I  am  sure  that 
1  am  dreaming  now  and  that  the  grand 
reality  is  to  come.  To  feel  that  there  is  a 
fire  in  me  which  is  simply  smoldering  dur- 
ing my  earthly  years  because  of  my  bodily 
limitations,  but  which  will  break  into  an 
unrestrained  blaze  when  death,  the  great 
hypnotist,  shall  put  my  physical  system  to 
sleep — that  feeling  forces  me  to  look  for- 
ward with  high  anticipation.  I  may  be 
amazed  as  I  contemplate  this  truth,  but  my 
amazement  gives  place  to  plans  which  out- 
reach the  narrow  boundaries  of  time.  The 
soul  pulses  with  pride  at  the  thought  of  its 
greatness  and  its  destiny,  and  must  live  in 
accordance  with  them. 

— George  H.  Hcpivorth. 

Making  the  Most  of  Life.     Copyright,  1904,  by  E.  P.  Dutton  A  Co. 

It  is  not  always  easy  to  realize  that  our 
souls  do  not  perish  with  our  bodies,  but 
surely  no  such  cold  doubts  need  assail  the 
Christian's  heart,  nor  chill  his  faith,  as  he 
thinks  of  those  who  sleep  in  Jesus,  for 
reason  asserts,  and  Scripture  affirms  its 
assertion,  that  we  shall  see  them  again,  that 
we  shall  know  them,  and  it  will  add  to  the 
joys  of  heaven  even,  that  in  the  full  com- 


THE  CO:\IFORT  BOOK  73 

munion  of  love  we  can  cast  our  crowns  at 
our  Saviour's  feet.  The  river  of  forgctful- 
ness  did  indeed  flow  through  the  heaven  of 
ancient  heathenism,  but  let  us  thank  God 
that  it  does  not  water  the  Christian's  Para- 
dise.— 6*.  0.  Seymour. 

Through  th«  Darkness.    Copyright,  1884,  by  E.  P.  Dutton  4  Co. 

I  think  that  the  two  things  above  all 
others  that  have  made  men  in  all  ages  be- 
lieve in  immortality,  apart,  so  far  as  we 
know,  from  any  revelation  save  that  which 
is  written  in  the  human  heart,  have  been 
the  broken  lives  and  the  broken  friendships 
of  the  world. 

And  yet,  what  terrible  misgivings !  Per- 
haps there  is  no  more!  Perhaps  it  is  all 
over!  Until,  to  the  soul  standing  with  all 
its  questionings  before  the  door  of  the  tomb, 
He  who  liveth  and  was  dead  came  as  he 
came  to  Martha,  and  holding  out  the  key  of 
death,  said  the  great  final  conclusive  words, 
"Thy  brother  shall  rise  again." 

Alen's  souls  leaped  to  that  word  because 
they  wanted  to  believe  it  and  had  not  dared 
wholly  to  believe  it  till  he  showed  them 
that  it  was  true.     And  now  if  v/e  believe 


74  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

in  him,  we  do  believe  it,  and  death  is  really 
changed  to  us,  and  the  dead  are  really  living 
by  the  assurance  of  the  living  Christ.  .  .  . 
A  living  Christ,  dear  friends !  the  old,  ever- 
new,  ever-blessed  Easter  truth !  He  liveth  : 
he  was  dead;  he  is  alive  for  evermore. 
Do  you  believe  it  ?  What  are  you  dreary  for. 
O  mourner  ?  What  are  you  hesitating  for. 
O  Worker?  What  are  you  fearing  death 
for,  O  man? 

Oh,  if  we  could  only  lift  up  our  heads 
and  live  with  him;  live  new  lives,  high 
lives,  lives  of  love  and  hope  and  holiness,  to 
which  death  should  be  nothing  but  the 
breaking  away  of  the  last  cloud,  and  the 
letting  of  the  Hfe  out  to  its  completion. — 
Phillips  Brooks. 

Th«  PurpM*  and  Um  of  Comfort.      Copyright,  1906,  by  E.  P.  Dutton  A  Co. 

Immortality  is  the  leverage  of  righteous- 
ness, the  power  by  which  humanity  is  raised 
out  of  habits  and  vices  worse  than  animal: 
it  is  the  vast  support  of  the  spirit  against 
the  flesh,  the  infinite  ally  of  love  against 
brutality,  the  necessary  and  mighty  postu- 
late of  the  true  life  of  mankind. 

The  bedrock  of  the  universe  is  the  faith- 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  75 

fulness  of  God,  the  integrity  of  our  Maker, 
and  at  our  being's  height  we  can  do  no 
other  and  no  better  than  ground  our  trust 
upon  the  immutable  promise  confirmed  by 
the  oath  of  him  that  cannot  lie,  and  thus 
rest  our  hope  of  the  life  after  death  upon 
the  truth  of  Christ  and  the  honor  of  God. 
■ — George  A.  Gordon. 

Tb«  Witness  to  Immortality.    Cupyright  by  Houghton  Mifflin  Company. 

Shortly  before  his  death,  the  Rev.  Robert 
J.  Burdette  wrote  a  personal  letter  to  the 
editor  of  an  Eastern  Baptist  paper,  in 
which  he  said : 

'T  watch  the  sunset  as  I  look  out  over  the 
rim  of  the  blue  Pacific,  and  there  is  no  mys- 
tery beyond  the  horizon  line,  because  I 
know  what  there  is  over  there.  I  have  been 
there.  I  have  journeyed  in  those  lands. 
Over  there  where  the  sun  is  just  sinking  is 
Japan.  That  star  is  rising  over  China.  In 
that  direction  lie  the  Philippines.  I  know 
all  that.  Well,  there  is  another  land  that 
I  look  toward  as  I  watch  the  sunset.  I  have 
never  seen  it.  I  have  never  seen  any  one 
who  has  been  there,  but  it  has  a  more  abid- 
ing reality  than  any  of  these  lands  which  I 
do  know.     This  land  beyond  the  sunset — • 


y6  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

this  land  of  immortality,  this  fair  and 
blessed  country  of  the  soul — why,  this 
heaven  of  ours  is  the  one  thing  in  the  world 
which  I  know  with  absolute,  unshaken,  un- 
changeable certainty.  This  I  know  with  a 
knowledge  that  is  never  shadowed  by  a 
passing  cloud  of  doubt.  I  may  not  always 
be  certain  about  this  world ;  my  geographi- 
cal locations  may  sometimes  become  con- 
fused, but  the  other  world — that  I  know. 
And  as  the  afternoon  sun  sinks  lower,  faith 
shines  more  clearly  and  hope,  lifting  her 
voice  in  a  higher  key,  sings  the  songs  of 
fruition.  My  w^ork  is  about  ended,  I  think. 
The  best  of  it  I  have  done  poorly ;  any  of  it 
I  might  have  done  better,  but  I  have  done 
it.  And  in  a  fairer  land,  with  finer  material 
and  a  better  working  light,  I  will  do  better 
work." 

Flowers!  speak  to  me  this  morning  the 
same  dear  old  lesson  of  immortality  which 
you  have  been  speaking  to  so  many  sorrow- 
ing souls. 

Wise  old  book !  let  me  read  again  in  your 
pages  that  to  die  is  gain.  Poets !  recite  to 
me  your  verses  which  repeat  in  every  line 
the  gospel  of  eternal  life.     Singers!  break 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  "j^ 

forth  once  more  into  songs  of  joy,  let  me 
hear  again  the  well-known  resurrection 
psalm.  Tree  and  blossom  and  bird  and  sea 
and  sky  and  wind,  whisper  it,  sound  it 
afresh,  warblt  it,  echo  it,  let  it  throb  and 
pulsate  through  every  atom  and  particle; 
let  the  air  be  filled  with  it ;  let  it  be  beaten 
into  our  brains,  there  to  be  told  and  retold 
and  still  retold  until  hope  rises  to  convic- 
tion, and  conviction  unto  certitude  of 
knowledge,  until  we,  like  Paul,  even  though 
going  to  our  death,  go  with  triumphal  mien, 
with  assured  faith,  with  serene  and  shining 
face,  able  to  say,  I  know  in  whom  I  have 
beHeved,  for  the  which  cause  I  suffer  death, 
and  I  am  persuaded  that  He  is  able  to  keep 
my  soul  which  I  have  committed  unto  him 
even  unto  the  end. — Thomas  Van  Ness. 

Reasons  for  Faith  in  Immortality,    Copyright  by  American  Unitarian  AssociatioTi 
Biistou,  Mass. 


I  say  to  thee,  do  thou  repeat 

To  the  first  man  thou  mayest  meet 

In  lane,  highway,  or  open  street — 

That  he  and  we  and  all  men  move 

Under  a  canopy  of  love. 

As  broad  as  the  blue  sky  above ; 


78  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

That  doubt  and  trouble,  fear  and  pain 
And  anguish,  all  are  shadows,  vain, 
That  death  itself  shall  not  remain ; 


That  weary  deserts  we  may  tread,  ] 

A  dreary  labyrinth  may  thread,  : 

Through  dark  ways  underground  be  led ;    i 

Yet  if  we  will  one  Guide  obey, 

The  dreariest  path,  the  darkest  way, 

Shall  issue  out  In  heavenly  day. 

— Richard  Chenevix  Trench.       / 


Why  be  afraid  of  Death  as  though  your 

life  were  breath! 
Death  but  anoints  your  eyes  with  clay,  O 

glad  surprise! 

Why  should  you  be  forlorn?     Death  only 

husks  the  corn, 
Why  should  you  fear  to  meet  the  thresher 

of  the  wheat? 

Is  sleep  a  thing  to  dread  ?    Yet  sleeping  you 

are  dead? 
Till  you  awake  and  rise,  here,  or  beyond 

the  skies. 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  79 

Why  should  it  be  a  wrench  to  leave  your 

wooden  bench, 
Why  not  with  happy  shout  run  home  when 

school  is  out. 

The  dear  ones  left  behind!    O  foolish  one 

and  blind, 

A  day — and  you  will  meet;  a  night — and 

you  will  greet ! 

This  is  the  death  of  Death,  to  breathe  away 

a  breath 
And  know  the  end  of  strife,  and  taste  the 

deathless  life. 

And  joy  without  a  fear,  and  smile  without 

a  tear. 
And  work,  nor  care  nor  rest,  and  find  the 

last  the  best. 

— Maltbie  D.  Babcock. 

Thoug;ht8  for  Every  Day  Living.      Copyright,  1901,  by  Charles  Scribner'i  Sout 
New  York, 


Without  this  larger  faith  in  the  future  we 
would  be  without  defense  and  without  com- 
fort in  the  face  of  the  worst  desolations  of 
the  heart.  No  earthly  consolation  can  reach 
the   root   of   the  deepest  sorrows  of   life. 


8o  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

Without  eternity  there  would  be  some 
wounds  that  could  never  be  stanched,  and 
some  griefs  that  must  be  incurable. 

There  can  be  no  healing  of  the  grave's 
most  poignant  sting  without  immortal  faith. 
Our  heart  need  not  be  troubled  or  afraid  if 
we  believe  in  the  God  whom  Jesus  revealed. 
We  can  leave  ourselves  and  all  our  love  to 
him. 

In  the  power  of  endless  life,  all  burdens 
are  lightened. 

The  sunshine  of  eternity  illumines  the 
mansions  of  time. — Hugh  Black. 

From  Comfort,  by  Hugh  Black.     Copyiight,  ISlO,  by   Fbmlng  H.  Revell  Com 
paijy. 


If  a  man  dies,  shall  he  live  again?  After 
long  mental  conflict  and  distress  over  the 
teachings  of  the  scientists,  at  last  our  sun 
has  cleared  itself  of  clouds,  and  we  hold  a 
faith  in  the  future  that  is  as  firm  as  the 
stars  and  as  bright  and  sure.  When  we 
read  in  Sir  Walter  Scott's  journal  the 
words,  "Last  night  I  slept  soundly,  and  in 
the  morning"  (after  which  the  pen  fell 
from  his  hand  forever),  we  believe  that  the 
morning  eternal  dawned  and  that  his  pen 
resumed  its  task.    For  ours  is  a  reasonable 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  8i 

and  moral  universe.  If  the  heroes  and 
martyrs  have  never  Hved  again,  then  the 
sun  shoots  off  rays  of  blackness  and  icicles. 
Socrates  was  true  to  his  convictions,  and 
wore  threadbare  garments  and  ate  crusts. 
And  with  a  prayer  to  God  upon  his  lips  was 
put  to  death,  while  his  judges  went  home 
to  drink  wine  and  sleep  on  beds  of  down. 
Where  is  Socrates  ?  Has  he  met  the  Homer 
and  Hesiod,  and  the  two  philosophers 
whom  he  called  his  teachers  and  heroes? 
Has  he  been  rewarded  of  God  for  his 
deeper  convictions  and  finer  feelings? 
Lost  ?  No !  A  thousand  times  no !  We  do 
not  charge  God  with  folly!  Abraham  Lin- 
coln has  seen  of  the  travail  of  his  soul  and 
been  satisfied.  Tennyson,  who  felt  that  he 
had  just  begun  to  master  the  beginnings  of 
his  craft,  and  the  rude  beginnings  of  the 
beautiful,  has  found  the  beauty  that  is  per- 
fect, and  that  ravishes  the  soul  with  loveli- 
ness that  is  divine.  Paul  has  found  that 
dying  is  gain.  The  broken-hearted  mother 
has  found  her  sweet  babe  and  received  it 
again  from  the  arms  of  the  angel  that  did 
always  behold  the  face  of  its  Father  which 
art  in  heaven.  Therefore,  look  upward, 
beyond  the  clouds  shines  the  eternal  sun. 


82  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

Because  God  lives,  you  who  are  made  in 
his  image  shall  live  also. 

Forget  your  fears  and  anxieties.  The 
sons  and  daughters  of  immortality  should 
not  go  through  life  dull-eyed,  despondent, 
and  discrowned.  This  life,  incomplete  here, 
shall  be  completed  there.  Through  adver- 
sity and  fire,  mist  and  hail,  we  slowly  prove 
our  souls.  Having  begun  to  live  it  is  but 
a  little  thing  that  God  should  continue  the 
soul  that  has  begun  its  long  career.  Gone 
those  that  are  dearest  and  best,  and  time 
can  neither  allay  our  sorrow  nor  cure  our 
grief.  The  loneliness  must  continue  while 
the  separation  continues.  But  if  they  come 
not  back  to  us,  we  go  to  them.  .  .  .  There- 
fore put  away  all  dark  garments  worn  of 
selfishness,  passion,  and  sin!  Array  your- 
selves in  garments  of  hope  and  faith,  with 
a  girdle  of  love.  And  in  that  hour  when 
the  soul  rises  through  the  pathless  air  and 
goes  winging  its  way  to  the  Court  of  Love, 
who  shall  describe  the  joy  of  those  who  cast 
their  crowns  before  Him  who  hath  brought 
immortality  to  light!  While,  with  one 
accord,  all  exclaim,  "Not  unto  us,  not  unto 
us,  but  unto  thy  name  be  all  the  praise  of 
our  salvation."     For  in  God,  in  Christ,  in 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  83 

holiness  and  in  love,  the  soul  shall  ever 
live  and  move  and  have  its  eternal  being. — 

Nezvell  D  wight  Hill  is. 

Sermon  ob  Immortality,  in  Brooklyn  Kagl*. 

Periodical  Press 

The  question  is  sometimes  asked,  *'Does 
death  end  all?"  Death  ends  nothing;  it  is 
simply  a  change.  There  are  no  dead  in 
the  sense  in  which  the  phrase  is  commonly 
used;  there  are  only  the  living  in  the  vast 
mystery  of  life  which  unfolds  us  all,  on 
the  fathomless  stream  of  life  which  bears 
us  all  forward.  We  are  here  for  a  little 
time,  as  we  are  often  in  inns  where  we 
make  friends  who  are  dear  to  us,  and  then 
we  leave  them  and  go  on  to  another  stage 
in  our  journey ;  we  miss  them  and  they  miss 
us,  and  neither  their  places  nor  ours  are 
ever  taken  by  others.  But  we  see  new  land- 
scapes and  pass  through  new  experiences 
into  a  larger  world,  and  they  presently  fol- 
low us.  We  are  separated  and  are  often 
lonely,  but  we  look  forward  joyfully  to  new 
sights  and  sounds,  and  to  the  hour  when, 
farther  on  in  the  journey,  we  shall  look  into 
their  eyes  and  hear  their  voices. 

To  think  of  life  as  one  and  indivisible. 


84  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

of  immortality  as  our  possession,  here  and 
now,  of  death  as  normal  change  in  an  eter- 
nal process  of  growth,  of  those  whom  we 
call  dead  as  more  intensely  alive  than  when 
we  saw  them,  is  to  transform  the  experience 
which  has  overshadowed  the  world  for  cen- 
turies as  the  end  of  happiness  into  a  larger 
freedom  and  joy,  and  to  make  immortality 
not  a  vague  expectation  but  a  glorious  open- 
ing of  the  doors  and  windows  of  the  house 
of  life.  ^'While  we  poor  wayfarers  still 
toil  with  hot  and  bleeding  feet,  along  the 
highway  and  the  dust  of  life,"  writes  Dr. 
Martineau,  "our  companions  have  but 
mounted  the  divergent  path,  to  explore  the 
more  sacred  streams,  and  visit  the  divine 
vales,  and  wander  amid  the  everlasting 
Alps  of  God's  upper  provinces  of  creation. 
And  so  we  keep  up  the  courage  of  our 
hearts,  and  refresh  ourselves  with  the  mem- 
ories of  love,  and  travel  forward  in  the 
ways  of  duty,  with  less  weary  step,  feeling 
ever  for  the  hand  of  God,  and  listening  for 
the  domestic  voices  of  the  immortals  whose 
happy  welcome  awaits  us.  Death,  in  short, 
under  the  Christian  aspect,  is  but  God's 
method  of  colonization ;  the  transition  from 
this   mother  country   of   our   race   to   the 


THE  COiMFORT  BOOK  85 

fairer  and  newer  world  of  our  emigration. 
— The  Outlook, 


What  glories  await  the  spirit  set  free 
From  fetters  of  earth,  iintrammeled  to  be! 
The  work  begun  here  is  continued  above, 
And  all  that  blest  life  is  service  and  love. 
— Parish  Visitor, 

The  testimony  of  literature  to  the  hope 
of  immortality  is  valuable  because  it  repre- 
sents the  judgment  and  the  instincts  of  the 
men  and  women  of  the  highest  ranks  of 
genius. 

The  human  soul  has  always  been  the 
chief  subject  of  study  for  literary  genius. 
Inventive,  scientific,  political,  and  military 
genius  takes  Httle  thought  of  the  higher  life 
of  man.  Indeed,  the  effect  of  the  things 
which  occupy  men  of  genius  of  these  classes 
is  often  to  divert  their  thought  from  the 
consideration  of  the  soul.  But  literary 
genius  has  for  its  most  constant  theme,  in 
varying  form,  the  human  soul.  It  means 
much,  therefore,  when  with  practical  una- 
nimity these  great  students  of  the  spirit 
affirm  their  belief  in  its  immortality.  One 
of  the  marked  characteristics  of  the  literary 


86  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

masters  is  their  recognition  of  the  spiritual 
meanings  of  life.  Their  genius  is  that  of 
the  seer.  Poets,  dramatists,  and  novehsts 
are  always  seers  of  visions.  For  them  the 
unseen  is  always  the  background  of  the 
seen.  For  them  hidden  light  is  always  shin- 
ing out  of  things.  Behind  the  visible  they 
forever  hear  the  footfalls  of  the  invisible 
creation,  and  the  reality  of  things  lies  be- 
neath the  appearance  of  things.  To  them 
life  and  nature  are  always  waiting  for  an 
interpreter  through  whom  their  secret  sig- 
nificance may  be  made  known.  This  mystic 
element,  as  seen  by  the  eyes  of  literary 
genius,  is  the  thing  of  deepest  interest  in 
human  Hfe. 

When  literature,  therefore,  takes  up  the 
question  of  immortality,  it  has  practically 
but  one  answer.  Man  must  be  immortal, 
or  there  is  no  meaning  in  life,  and  the  whole 
course  of  history  is  moving  to  a  hopeless 
and  remediless  tragedy.  Man  must  be  im- 
mortal, or  a  magnificent  harmony  is  des- 
tined to  end  in  clashing  discord.  Man  must 
be  immortal,  or  what  inspired  souls  have 
taken  to  be  beacon  lights  on  the  hills  of  the 
future  are  the  flames  of  funeral  pyres,  and 
God  has  put  the  song  of  hope  in  the  uni- 


THE  CO.AIFORT  BOOK  87 

versal  human  heart  only  to  smother  it  at 
last  in  dust  and  ashes. — Sunday  School 
Journal, 

Miscellaneous 

O,  blessed  thought !  we  shall  not  always  so 
In  darkness  and  in  sadness  walk  alone; 

There  comes  a  glorious  day  when  we  shall 
know 
As  we  are  known. 

To  be  absent  from  the  body  is  to  be  pres- 
ent with  the  Lord.  The  word  translated 
"to  be  present"  really  means  to  be  among 
one's  people :  surrounded  by  familiar  scenes 
and  faces;  in  a  word,  to  he  at  home;  and  is 
there  not  something  very  beautiful  in  this 
divine  assurance,  that  the  spirit  as  it  goes 
forth  from  the  body  does  not  feel  the  sun- 
dering of  the  ties  which  bind  us  to  the  earth, 
nor  is  it  oppressed  with  the  strangeness  of 
the  transition,  nor  bewildered  by  the  im- 
mensity of  its  abode?  Its  exit  will  be  a 
going  home:  some  place  there  is  which  is 
the  Home  of  Christ's  redeemed  ones  :  where 
they  shall  be  welcomed  to  his  Presence,  and 
have  friendly  hands  outstretched  to  greet 
them  and  loved   faces  to  surround  them, 


88  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

and  blissful  occupations  to  engage  them. 
Heaven  is  the  home  of  the  spirit,  and  death 
instead  of  unhousing  it,  or  turning  it  adrift 
like  an  ejected  tenant  from  its  present 
dwelling,  opens  for  it  the  door  of  its  true 
home,  and  ushers  it  into  its  heavenly  inti- 
macies and  companionships. 

All  around,  man's  acres  lie, 
Under  the  same  brooding  sky. 
There,  the  plowman  blithely  sings ; 
Broadcast,  there  the  sower  flings 
Golden  grain,  to  die  in  gloom, 
Making  every  clod  its  tomb. 
Lo!  a  miracle  is  seen — 
Acres  clothed  in  living  green. 

In  their  midst  God's  acre  lies, 
Under  these  same  yearning  skies. 
Here,  men  move  with  dirges  slow ; 
Here,  their  tears  unbidden  flow; 
Loved  forms,  here,  in  earth  they  lay ; 
Leave  to  darkness  and  decay. 
Autumns  wane,  and  springs  return ; 
Still  they  sleep  'neath  shaft  and  urn. 

Side  by  side,  those  acres  lie, 
Under  this  expectant  sky. 


THE  COMFORT  BOOK  89 

What  ?  On  God's  lies  death's  dark  spell, 
^^'hile  in  man's  comes  miracle? 
No !  for  love's  eyes  pierce  the  gloom ! 
No !  for  Christ  hath  burst  the  tomb ! 
God  will  give  by  power  unknown, 
Each  a  body  of  its  own. 

— Anon. 


Hail,  glorious  dawn! 

Bright,  beauteous  morn ! 
When  I  shall  wake  from  death's  embrace, 
And  see  my  Saviour  face  to  face, 

My  life  revived, 

The  great  white  throne  beside, 

*1  shall  be  satisfied." 

O  joy  complete ! 

Loved  ones  to  greet, 
And  to  my  bosom  as  of  yore, 
Press  close — to  part  again  no  more. 

With  Him  I'll  then  abide 

Close  to  his  loving  side, 

Forever  satisfied. 

— Anon. 

The  stars  shine  over  the  earth, 
The  stars  shine  over  the  sea ; 


90  THE  COMFORT  BOOK 

The  stars  look  up  to  the  mighty  God, 
The  stars  look  down  on  me. 
The  stars  have  lived  for  a  million  years, 
A  million  years  and  a  day ; 
But  God  and  I  shall  love  and  live 
When  the  stars  have  passed  away. 

— Anon. 


V  (Cnbof 

Heaven  overarches  earth  and  sea, 
Earth-sadness  and  sea-bitterness. 

Heaven  overarches  you  and  me: 

A  httle  while  and  we  shall  be — 

Please  God — where  there  is  no  more  sea 
Nor  barren  wilderness. 

Heaven  overarches  you  and  me, 

And  all  earth's  gardens  and  her  graves. 
Look  up  with  me,  until  we  see 
The  day  break  and  the  shadows  flee. 
What  though  to-night  wrecks  you  and  me 

If  so  to-morrow  saves? 

— C.  G.  Rossetti. 

From  Th«  Golden  Treasury.    Copyright  by  The  M»cmill»n  Company. 


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